The Disney Game
by Daydreamer747
Summary: When Kori and her friends get sucked into her Disney board game will competition break them apart or will they combine their wits and become champions one and all? this story is under referbishment. new chaps.soon!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: 'Scene it', anyone?

June 28, the day our lives became more complicated than you can imagine.

The way I see it, it was all the weatherman's fault. If he hadn't predicted a high of 96 and 98% humidity we would have gone bike riding as planned. But no. Ol' Mother Nature had to make the great outdoors feel scorching hot even on oven standards.

We couldn't go anywhere. The pool? Closed due to freaking maintenance. The Mall? Ha! The local mall was all outdoors. The Movies? Please! At eight bucks a person? Not in _this_ economy! There was nothing good to watch anyways.

So, in our complete desperation and boredom I had the genius idea to have us all go over to my place and play some board games. This is where our story really begins.

"Monopoly?" I asked my friends. The four girls had each claimed a spot of my bedroom.

"Nah, we played that twice last week" said Cameryn, wrinkling her nose. Her blond hair sagging in a ponytail, as usual.

"Alright," I tossed the box oh-so delicately back into my cramped closet before suggesting, "Clue?"

"Oh! I call Mustard!" cried Marley, waving her hand over her head. The other clutched the ankles of her long, criss-crossed leggs.

"NO!" yelled Rikki from my computer desk. The young sports enthusiast was checking out the facebook group of her favorite international soccer team, Italy. She never missed a game. "No clue! Remember what happened last time?"

I cringed at the memory. Marley had gotten so wrapped up in the game last time we played that my parent's favorite vase paid the price. She hadn't meant to break it, but still, Rikki made a valid point.

"Um, on second thought not today Marley", I said replacing the game in my closet.

"You still have Apples to Apples?" Anya asked. The twelve year old red-head sat in my bean-bag chair quietly. Don't be fooled, she may look incredibly young, but she's smatter than all of us combined. Which, kind of explains why she skipped a grade.

"UGH! That's all we ever play! It's definitly lost its appeal." whined Cameryn.

I sighed and began shifting the boxes of junk in my closet. That's when I saw it. A two year old Christmas present from my aunt who, for some reason, can't cope with the fact that I'm not three years old anymore. An edition of 'Disney Scene it?', never been played. My eyes went wide with embarrassment and I started to cover the box up as inconspicuously as possible.

"Whatcha got there?" said Rikki.

Apparently, it was not inconspicuous enough.

"Nothing" I lied and continued to toss junk over the box.

"Ooo! Whatcha hiding Kori?" teased Marley, coming up behind me.

"Nothing! I'm not hiding anything" I didn't even bother looking at her. Either way, my guilt was obvious.

"Liar! Move over and let me see. Rikki hold her back." she exclaimed, pushed me aside, and moved some of the boxes I tried to use as cover until she found what she was searching for. The entire time, I only stood there with a mortified look on my face.

"Aha!" she yelled, holding up the box like a trophy.

The others gravitated towards her. Leaving me to wallow in my shame.

"What is it?" said Cameryn expressing mild interest.

"It's…Disney scene it." Marley read the cover after lowered her arm.

"Oh, God" I grumbled.

How embarrassing! I secretly had a minor obsession with all things having to do with Disney. The movies, the parks, the Mouse, anything. Living in Orlando it's not exactly something to be even remotely proud of.

"Disney?" cried Cameryn. Her features were on the brink of laughter.

_God, if there was ever a time to smite me, do it now. Please._ I begged.

"Y-yeah, it was a Christmas present from my aunt a few years back. I know its lame guys. Let's just put it back and forget about it." I stammered , trying to explain.

"Why? It's the only game of yours that we haven't played yet" said Anya.

"Yeah, you've been holdin' out on us, Kori!" scolded Marley, wagging her finger in my face.

I just gave her the look and took the box from her hand. Looking at it I couldn't help but admire it a little. The shimmering rainbow silver and the line up of characters from some of my favorite movies.

"You guys sure you want to play?" I asked.

"Yeah!"

"Sure."

"Sounds good."

"Okay." I sighed as I walk over to my TV and popped in the game disc. My friends set up the game board and we all crowded around, choosing our pawns. Anya chose Minnie and I got Mickey. Cameryn took Donald duck while Rikki and Marley formed team Goofy. Seizing the remote I selected the Play Game option. The rolling order was chosen and, me being first, I rolled an All Play and pressed the option with my remote.

That's when it happened. The animated Tinkerbell on the screen flew in a flurry of pixie dust. But instead of disappearing after a few seconds and revealing the question, she kept going. Spinning and twirling until finally, unbelievably she flew off the screen and started zooming around us in a wide circle!

"What the hey?" Cameryn screamed.

The little fairy began to accelerate. Faster, faster, faster she flew! Each turn sending up an impossible gust of wind. Soon we were enveloped in a miniscule whirlwind. My drawings, which were hung on my walls, flapped haphazardly in the wind. God, i suddenly wished i had gotten some frames.

"Is this supposed to happen?" yelled Rikki, eyes wide.

"No, I don't know what the hell is going on!" I hollered at the four pairs of giant eyes staring at me.

Tinkerbell flew faster still, until she was nothing but an undulating beam of light circling us. Before we could stand, the band widened and _Snap! _We disappeared from my room in a flash of light.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Disney or Warner bros. or the scene it games.

**Chapter 2: Ready or not**

"AAAAAAGH!" The five of us screamed bloody murder as we felt ourselves spinning out of control, being teleported to who-knows-where! Our surroundings were pitch black, yet strangley it was possible to see the forms of my friends falling through space. Well, falling isn't exaclty the right adjective. It was like falling and not falling at the same time. The wind stilled roared around us, but there was nothing solid holding us up.

"Where are we going?" shouted Anya, to no one in particular.

"If we knew," said Cameryn "we wouldn't be screaming our throats raw in a state of utter confusion and fear now, would we?"

"WOOOOHOOO!" Marley's voice echoed through the void, "THIS IS FREAKIN' AWESOME!"

"How can you be enjoying yourself right now?" cried Anya "I can't wait for this...whatever _this _is... to stop!"

As if triggered by Anya's sudden outburst our spinning slowed and finally stoped. We felt a solid floor materialize under us and simultaneously plopped on the floor, exhausted, panting, and out of breath. For what seemed like an eternity we all lay motionless. We'd landed in a plain white room with no doors or windows and blinding florescent lights. Suddenly the room went dark, and green, gridded lasers scanned us all from head to toe.

"Analyzing players." Said a robotic voice coming from nowhere, making us jump to attention.

"Kori?" whispered Marley.

"Yeah?" I answered equally as fearful.

"I think your game is defective."

As suddenly as the lights came on they disappeared and the fluorescents flicked back on, blinding us, and sending us on a blinking spasm.

"Player identification confirmed. Cameryn Fisher , Anya Byrne, Rikki Martelli, Marley Johnson , Kori Rivera have arrived." said the voice, to our amazement.

"Thank you, I'll take it from here." Answered another, this one more familiar and coming from directly behind us.

We all turned to face our, ahem, 'host'. There standing no higher than three feet tall was a black, animated creature. He wore yellow shoes and bright red shorts with two small white buttons on each side. His skinny, whip-like tail curved behind him and two giant ears sat on top of his head. You guessed it, it was none other than Mickey Mouse.

"No way," said Anya, her voice distant," Mickey Mouse."

"Sure!" Marley muttered in reply, "Why not? We just flew through hell and wound up in a completely unfamiliar place to be scanned by a rediculously acurate computer system, all in the course of," she checked her watch," six minutes! So Mickey Mouse shows up! what the heck, let's roll with it."

"There's no way this is real," I said, "We must be hallucinating or something."

"Yeah, and we all happen to be seeing the same hallucination," quipped Cameryn.

"It could happen! Mass hallucination's been reported. And besides, how else can you explain this?" I was being defensive and I knew it. But there was no way I could come to terms with what just happened without going insane.

"Hello, everybody! You already know my name let's see if I can guess yours." Piped Mickey in the middle of our discussion, "Hmm… let's see, you're Anya" he said pointing right at her "you're Kori" again he was right "Rikki" right "Marley" correcto-mundo! "And you must be Cameryn."

"That's just creepy," said Marley.

"Uh, Mickey," I said, feeling like an idiot for addressing a cartoon character. My voice got tighter the more I talked "Where are we exactly? How did we get here? Wh-where's my room?"

"We're in your game; where else did you think we would be?" answered Mickey, "I'd explain how I got ya in here but golly! That would take up too much time!"

"Why?" asked Anya

"To play the game of course! Gosh you kids sure ask a lot of questions." He laughed in reply. I, however did not find this the least bit amusing. And, apparently, neither did Cameryn.

"You pulled us in here all for a stupid game?" yelled Cameryn, enraged.

Mickey smiled up at us then, slowly, it faded away. The look on his face was one of pure sadness. Had Cameryn upset him? I didn't know he could be so sensitive, especially with Donald as a friend.

"Cameryn! Why'd you have to go and do that? You got him all depressed" Marley said.

"No it wasn't her fault," said Mickey, "Look, fellas, the real reason I brought ya all here is because we need a protector."

"A...protector?" I asked doubtfully; I started to consider that, maybe, I wasn't dreaming.

"Yep."

"From what, exactly?"

"I'm afraid that's a little bit tricky, you see, (aw, how do I explain this?) there's...something that's attacking our world. Kind of like a computer virus. That's all I can tell ya for now, sorry fellas." Mickey was hiding something, but at the moment, asking for more detail was an idea that had put itself out of reach of my common sense.

The mouse continued to talk, "The five of you seem best suited for the job. But we couldn't agree on who would get the job, uh, 'we' being Donald, Goofy and the gang, so we figured that the best way to judge is to make a game. Like a friendly competition. You'll all enter into different stories and in each one there is one object you have to bring back with you. Whoever brings back the most is the winner and will be the protector."

"Hold up! Who said we'd agree?" seethed Rikki, who had found her voice at last, "We didn't volunteer for this and you can't make us do something we don't want to do. This could be considered kidnapping!"

Mickey rubbed the back of his neck, taking the word "crestfallen" to a whole new level. "Well, gee, I-I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd feel this way."

At seeing the little mouse look so devastated, Rikki's demeanor softened, "Hey, look, I'm sorry about your situation, but we want to go home. Like, now."

"Well, then, the only way to do that is to win the game. Sorry," he said, "I would send ya home if I could, though."

I sighed. This was just peachy. "Well, there's no reason to obsess over something that can't happen. If we want to get out of here, looks like we're gonna have to play. How do we find these 'objects' anyways?"

Mickey's expression lightened a little, "So, you'll do it?"

"I-" I looked at my friend's faces. Cameryn, still fuming, Marley, looking as if nothing unusual had just happened, Anya, bewildered, and Rikki, firm and focused. They were all looking at me for an answer, "I can't promise anything, but if it's what it takes to get home...you have your players."

Mickey nodded and went right on explaining. He really was a sweet mouse, if somewhat a bad judge. "You'll find the objects with these."

Suddenly a hole opened up in the space between Mickey and us. A table slowly lifted out with five P.D.A like objects on it.

"These gadgets are called Magical Item Location Devices, or M.I.L.D. When you enter a world the devices will give you all a riddle. The answer to each riddle is an object in each of the stories. Your job is to both solve the riddle and find the object." lectured Mickey

We each took a M.I.L.D and figured out how to turn it on.

"Not only do those gadgets give you the clues and riddles but they can also be used for communication. Now are you all ready to start?" He asked

We all stared at each other again. None of us could believe what had just happened. So, naturally, we were all more than a little nervous. To add to that we weren't too sure about this whole competition. I mean we've played against each other before but a game like this? I took a deep breath and looked straight at Mickey.

"We're ready." I told him with more confidence than I felt.

"Well then," he said, pulling a remote control out of nowhere, "Let the games begin."

And with that he presses the select button and we disappeared from the White room.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three:

When our spinning teleportation nightmare ended for the second time that day we found ourselves in the middle of a dense jungle. Trees and underbrush were everywhere, vines tangled and tumbled off the branches that lay, at the lowest, five yards high.

"Ok," I said "Anybody have any idea where we've landed?"

"In a jungle, that much I know," replied Marley

"No kidding!" exclaimed Cameryn" She means what movie."

"_Pfft!_ I-I knew that" she said.

Just then, our M.I.L.D.s beeped. We automatically took them out and checked the screen. A small window appeared on the device and read

Welcome to The Jungle Book! Your riddle is:

_In lush jungle green and know_

_A child sings of life and home_

_Your item is used each day at dawn _

_And taken to where man cub's gone._

"'Where man cub's gone…'" quoted Marley in one of her thoughtful states.

"'Cause that makes a lot of sense…" murmured Anya, convinced that no one could hear.

"'In lush jungle green and known' o.k. that one's obvious," I mumbled.

"'a child sings… where can we find another kid around here?" asked Rikki

"The village," Blurted Marley. We all stared blankly at her, having no idea what she was saying.

"Remember? My little brother's obsessed with this movie, the whole point of it was to get Mowgli to a village or something like that." she reasoned, "So, the only other place we could find a kid is the village, and the only way to find _that _is to track down Mowgli."

We kept staring, but this time admiration took hold of our faces.

"Marley, you are a genius!" said Cameryn, patting her on the shoulder.

"Oh, stop," answered Marley, obviously relishing the compliment.

"Well, that settles it. We find Mowgli," I said authoritatively.

(p.o.v.)

As the five girls began their quest they didn't notice they were being watched. High in the branches of a towering tree was an incredibly long snake. His thick coils, capable of squeezing the life out of anything, were camouflaged with the vines which kept him form being discovered by his prey. His name was Kaa and he was starving.

"Hmm…" he said smacking his lips" I think I'll keep a sssharp eye on these ssssuculent looking ssstrangers."

(p.o.v)

There are only three words that can possibly describe our trek through the jungle. Hot, humid, and miserable. The entire journey took tons of walking, most of the time in circle. Our feet ached and we were drenched and sticky with sweat. Not to mention covered in giant mosquito bites. Finally, after hours of living hell, we decided it was time to rest.

"Ugh! My feet are killing me! I thought we decided to play this game to stay out of the heat," complained Cameryn.

"Please, Cam, stop talking. You're not helping at all." I groaned. I was in too much of a bad mood to put up with anyone whining.

Cameryn just glared at me and collapsed on the spot. We all sat around panting heavily and swatting at the occasional mosquito. That's when I heard it. Music.

"Hey guys you hear that?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"Oh, what is it now, Kori?" grumbled Cameryn.

"Shh! Listen."

The sound was faint and unrecognizable at first but then it started to grow into a very familiar melody.

"Where's it coming from?" asked Anya.

We searched around, trying to find the source of the song.

"Hey guys!" called Rikki, who had wandered off a few feet. She was pushing down a couple of palm fronds in order to have a better view, "over here!"

We all rushed over to see where she was pointing to. It was the ruins of an ancient temple. Vines and weeds curled around the old stone idols and carvings of some civilization long forgotten, but we weren't there for an archeology lesson. It was the people dancing around inside that we were interested in. Or rather, the monkeys.

"_Oo oo oo I wanna be like you-oo_

_I wanna talk like you_

_Walk like you _

_Too-oo-oo"_

We'd landed in the middle of the swing dance of the movie.

"Awesomeness!" cried Marley doing a little jig, "I love this song!"

Finding Mowgli in a small crowd of monkeys was not a difficult task. Pulling him out however was another story. To add to that Marley was losing control over her feet.

"Marley, stop dancing we have to focus." I whispered to her "So what's the plan to get Mowgli?"

"We don't find Mowgli," answered Anya after a moment of relative silence.

Rikki, Cameryn, and I exchanged glances. Clearly, she caught sight of our faces. "What I meant was instead of focusing on Mowgli, we find Bagheera and Baloo. The rest is history" Anya rationalized.

After about a minute Marley nodded. "Of course! How could I forget?" Then she looked back into the temple, "If I'm right Baloo and Bagheera should be…THERE! I see them!"

Marley pointed to the opposite end of Louie's temple. Sure enough the two had just scrambled in and were scanning the crowd for Mowgli.

We hurried over to the spot as fast as our burning, aching feet could carry us. On arrival we could hear the characters whispering, forming a plan, and looking out into the dancing crowd. Just as we made it to their spot, Baloo was hit by the music and began bobbing up and down to the tempo.

"Man, what a beat!" he exclaimed

"Oh, I totally agree!" answered Marley scaring the bejewels out of the animals. They turned to look at us.

"Sorry," I apologized, "Marley here didn't mean to scare you."

"Who are you anyways?" asked Baloo with a doubtful look on his face. He looked us over, head to toe, trying to figure out what group of strange looking humans was doing talking to him.

"We'll explain later, right now we just have to focus on getting Mowgli" I said.

"Yes, of course." Stuttered Bagheera, regaining composure from the sudden shock, though he did seem to wonder how we knew about Mowgli, "This is going to take brains, not brawn. Baloo do you have any suggestions? Baloo? Baloo!"

The panther lifted his head to find that Baloo had somehow disappeared while he was talking.

"Hey," cried Anya after looking around, "Marley's gone too!"

Of course, I said to myself.

"Ok, well they couldn't have gotten far, everyone check-," Cameryn was interrupted by the sudden sound of trumpets coming our way. We quickly backed up against a wall, out of reach and out of sight, as a procession of monkeys (and a dancing Mowgli) marched by. Just as Mowgli passed, Bagheera reached out a claw to try and swoop him up. Not a second later, there was a loud _slam! _as a door hit poor Bagheera square in the face. When we looked we couldn't believe our eyes. There, standing in crudely disguised glory, were both Baloo and Marley.

"No way" laughed Rikki.

As the music continued Baloo and our friend joined the choreography. Swing and spinning and jumping and twirling in time with the music and the other monkeys, all the while making swift progress towards Mowgli. Bagheera, once he'd recovered his wits, leapt up on some columns to try to take a nab at Mowgli again. The two disguised animals had seemingly worked out a system. While Baloo distracted King Louie by dancing with him, Marley got closer and closer to the boy. Everything was going smoothly until the music ended. From that point on everything was a blur. The monkeys recognized Baloo, whose costume had slipped off in the excitement, and began to drag Mowgli away. A madcap chase ensued and we joined in. For a while it looked like there would be no winner until the temple began to crumble. King Louie, who currently had Mowgli handed him off the Baloo, not realizing what he was doing, and ran to attempt a rescue of his collapsing castle. While he was distracted our group made its move and high tailed it outta there!

(time lapse)

"So, you're sayin' that you five got trapped here because of some twisted game?" asked Baloo after I'd finished relaying our adventures. The rest of the group had fallen asleep the minute we stopped for the night. We'd walked a few ways off to talk.

"Yep and the only way out is to win or something. We're not sure; we've got more questions than answers." I replied.

We were sitting in a jungle clearing about two hours after finding Mowgli. Exhaustion had overcome us quickly and it was clear that we weren't going to reach the village anytime soon.

"All we know is that we have to get to the village. Do you think you could help us?"

Baloo and Bagheera were silent for only a moment.

"Of course. We have to take Mowgli there anyway." said Bagheer. Baloo looked as if he was about to protest, him not wanting to give up his 'little Britches'. Bagheera didn't give him the chance. "For right now, though, it might be best if you follow your friends' examples and get some rest. As for you, Baloo, its time we had a talk."

I laid my head down as they walked off to have their discussion. The last thing I remembered was the sight of a tree trunk and what I thought was an imaginary _hissssssss_ing sound.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four:**

As the morning sunrise peeked over the jungle horizon, our band of adventurers slowly began to wake up. Rikki, after momentarily trying to remember where the heck she was, rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Frankly, she was disappointed. After a fitful sleep the night before she had expected to wake up in her bed and have her whole zany situation been a dream.

_Obviously not,_ she said to herself, knowing that it was too much to hope for.

She was stressed and tired with doubt after doubt swirling in her head. How far from the village were they? Why did they need to get there in the first place? _To find the item _she reasoned. But why? Why were they in this stupid game in the first place? Mickey Mouse told them that they had to win because Disney needed a protector or something. What was that all about anyways? Just another mystery. Anyways, they had no choice but to play if they wanted to get back home. One thing she knew for sure was this: She had to win this game.

"Is it morning already?" she heard Cameryn say, not too far off.

"Yeah I guess it is," answered Anya in a yawn.

"We should get going soon. I think Baloo is getting ready to go with Mowgli," said Marley, glancing in the bear's direction. Poor Baloo looked worried, wondering just how to break the news to Mowgli that they were, indeed, going to the man-village.

"Ok, lets get Kori up and be on our way," sighed Rikki.

She walked over to where she last saw her friend the night before, assuming that she was sleeping in the same spot. Chuckling she shook her head. Kori had a reputation for being a late and incredibly heavy sleeper. They often joked that an atomic projectile could explode three feet away from her and she'd go on sleeping like nothing happened.

When Rikki finally reached the spot all she found was Kori's M.I.L.D., while Kori herself was missing. Sensing a joke she called "Very funny, Kori. I know you're hiding, come on out."

She waited a few minutes. When Kori failed to jump out of the bushes or come sailing in from a tree branch she began to panic. "Kori? This isn't funny. You've had your laugh." Still she failed to appear.

Not knowing what else to do she snatched up the M.I.L.D and ran back to 'camp'.

"Kori's gone you guys!" she cried, showing the others Kori's gadget.

"What? That's impossible!" yelled Cameryn.

"Ok, let's stay calm. Maybe Baloo or Bagheera saw her. Let's go ask them," suggested Anya.

The group sprinted to where the characters where standing, getting ready to be on their way.

"Have you seen Kori? She's not where we last saw her," panted Rikki

"Why, no. We haven't seen your friend since we spoke with her last night," answered Bagheera, "Does she go missing often?"

"Kori? No way! It's not like her to just up and go like that," said Marley.

"Well we definitely ain't seen her around," said Baloo, rather gruffly. It's not that he didn't like the girls, really, he thought the one he danced with was riot! At the moment, however, he didn't need to deal with another problem.

"Oh no..." whispered Rikki. They were in trouble now.

(p.o.v.)

The rays of the morning sun hit my sleeping face, causing me to wake up slightly agitated. I stretched, yawned, and ever so slowly cracked my eyes open.

My first thought was _I wonder what's for breakfast. _Then I noticed I wasn't in the same clearing I fell asleep in last night. Also, the tree branches were a lot closer than I remembered them to be. Had I seen them wrong? Maybe the moonlight had played tricks on my eyes.

Instinctively, I jerked straight up and swiveled my head looking for the others. It was a very bad idea. It wasn't until I felt myself lose balance that I discovered I was high up in a tree. Vertigo took over as I nearly fell, when the vine I was on wrapped itself around my waist.

"Wait a second," I whispered, terrified, "Vines don't do that."

"Well, well, well," my kidnapper chuckled, "it ssseems that my guesssst is awake."

The voice sent chills down my spine. I knew it anywhere; it sounded like an evil Winnie-the-Pooh. Inch by inch I turned my head until I was face to face with none other than Kaa.

"Oh man," I whimpered "I am in some deep-"

"Have a niccce nap?" interrupted Kaa.

I turned my head as fast as I could, "Don't even try it with me, Kaa. I can see right through to your little scheme," I tried pushing on the coil around my waist. It wouldn't budge, " So just save yourself a truck-load of time and let. Me. DOWN!"

"Oh, you want to leave ssso ssssoon? Why not ssstay for a while, have a niccce chat?" answered Kaa with a fake note of hurt in his voice. He was slinking around to get a view of my face.

"No thanks, _buddy_," I quipped turning my head once more to avoid his hypnotic gaze "but like I said before, just let me down from here and save your breath!"

"I'm sssssorry," he answered, clearly irritated, "but I'm afraid I can't _do_ that."

"Can't or won't?" I said.

"Doesss it matter?" he hissed.

"Fine. Ok, then. I'll just find my own way down," I said and proceeded to push and kick at his coils. I kept it up for about five minutes before I knew I wasn't getting anywhere. My struggling efforts had little to no affect on him and, if they did, he didn't show it. From the brief glances I caught from his face, he was watching me, rather amused.

"You're looking a bit tired there. Why don't you ressssssst,"Kaa said, his coils swiveling by my left ear.

"F-forge-"was all I got to say. In trying to avoid his stare from the left I ended up exposing myself to it on the right. He'd tricked me, making me believe that his head was on my left. Colors were all I saw, a swirling of colors and the feeling of every muscle in my body relax.

(P.o.v.)

"KORI!" called Rikki for the umpteenth time. At Bagheera's suggestion the group had decided to split up. Rikki and Anya were to search for Kori while Marley and Cameryn went with Bagheera and Baloo to take Mowgli to the village. They would keep in touch through their M.I.L.D.s.

"Rikki," panted Anya "I know we have to find Kori and all, but do you think that we could-"

"NO. No breaks! We have to focus on finding Kori. She could be in danger for all we know! Or worse if we don't hurry."

Just then their M.I.L.D.s beeped. They hurriedly checked the screen and found that Cameryn's face appeared when they hit the "answer" button.

Cameryn looked exhausted and had an expression of either fear or worry in her eyes. It didn't take Anya long to figure out that something wasn't right.

"Hey Cam, what's up?" she said.

"Nothing good I can tell you." answered Cameryn.

"What happened?" asked Rikki.

"It's Mowgli," said Cam, "He's run away."

The girls sat in silence for a moment. Rikki was afraid this would happen.

Anya, trying to stay calm as usual, was the first to regain composure. Sitting herself down on a hollow log she replied "Oh, um…ok why did he run? It's not like he knew where you were going."

"I wouldn't be too sure. Things were going fine until Marley let it slip." Cameryn snapped.

In the background, the girls heard Marley begin to protest.

"How was I supposed to know it was a secret?" came the guilty cry, " Plus, it would have happened anyways!"

Ignoring Marley's defensiveness Cameryn continued with the update.

"As I was saying, now that he's run away we have to try to find him now before anything else does, namely Shere Kahn."

The name brought shivers down Rikki's spine, reawakening worse case scenarios that could be happening to Kori as they spoke.

"Ok, thanks for the update. We have to keep looking for Kori but if we spot Mowgli along the way then we'll let you know. Keep in touch... and be careful!" With that Anya signed off.

Taking a moment to let the news sink in Rikki groaned "Great. Now we have an MIA _and _a runaway to look for. I thought Disney was supposed to be a happy place."

They sat, a dense silence settled over them, thick enough to be cut with a knife. After a while they kept walking, though they were still quiet.

All of a sudden Anya gripped Rikki's arm.

"Do you hear that?" she asked in a near whisper.

"Hear what? The place is dead, now let go of my-"

"SHHHH! Listen."

Rikki obliged, hating that she was being ordered around. And by someone younger at that! She strained her ears, forcing the jungle's background noise out of her head. It took her a few minutes, but she could finally make out the sound.

"Where's it coming from?" she asked.

The girls went frantic looking for the source of the voice. Rikki couldn't shake the feeling of déjà vu. With much effort and even more listening they managed to find where the source was. There, in the low-lying branches of a clearing was a HUGE snake, talking to himself. Or so it seemed. A closer look revealed that a person was trapped in his coils.

Realization hit them both. How in the world were they going to get Kori out of this mess?

(P.o.v.)

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was having a hard time tracking Mowgli down. Worse than that, the weather was taking a turn for the worst in their part of the jungle.

They had been everywhere. They searched what seemed like every godforsaken nook and cranny for Mowgli. A little while back, it was decided that Bagheera would go and enlist the services of the Elephants. Even with them on patrol they started doubting whether they would find Mowgli in time.

"This is hopeless," came Cameryn's dejected sigh. She looked around. Wherever they were, it was just as depressing as her words. Everything was grey, dead and barren, and with the ominous rain clouds looming overhead things felt downright melancholy.

"Geeze, Marley! Why did you have to set slip in the first place? This is all your fault," blurted Cameryn just as Marley sat down on a small boulder.

The words stung Marley like a swarm of angry hornets. She knew that she'd messed up, but was it really something that bad? Mowgli got lost in the movie anyways! As guilty as she was she couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of annoyance every time Cameryn brought it up. Which, at that point, had been more than necessary.

"For the last time already, I'm sorry. I forgot it was a secret," she apologized.

"Seriously, Marley, it doesn't take that much brain power to have figured," Cam kept on nagging, "Or are you really just that stupid?"

Marley's head shot up. The comment even caused Baloo to take interest in the fight. That was it. The constant nitpicking was one thing, but Cameryn had crossed the line!

"Look, Cameryn!" yelled Marley with a flame in her eyes "I messed up. I get it, Ok? You don't have to keep badgering me for it. I feel guilty about enough as it is without you calling me out every three seconds!"

"Uh, Marley?"

"Not now! This is too important. Where was I? Oh yeah. I'm sick and tired of your abuse! And it's not just this time, oh no! It's every stinkin' time!"

"M-Marley?"

She ignored Cameryn.

"It was the popcorn incident-"

"Marley."

"The cat in the laundry mishap-"

"Marley!"

"That time with the flying toaster that blew up-"

"MARLEY!"

"WHAT?"

Cameryn pointed over Marley's tense shoulder.

"I think I found Mowgli," she whispered.

Marley turned around. Cam wasn't kidding. There he was standing, braced in his boyish glory against the ferocious Shere Kahn.

From where they were, Marley couldn't hear a thing, but she knew exactly what was being said.

Shere Kahn, looking proud and self important, was mocking Mowgli, while a group of vultures were perched in a dead tree, warning him to run. Marley played out the dialog in her head.

"Could it be possible that you don't know who I am?" the tiger would be asking.

"I know you alright," Mowgli was answering now, his arms crossed and a scowl plastered on his face, "You're Shere Kahn."

"Precisely. Then you should know everyone runs from Shere Kahn." He pressed a claw a up against Mowgli's neck.

'Never a good sign,' thought Cameryn.

Mowgli pushed the giant paw away, "You don't scare me! I won't run from anyone."

"Ah, you have spirit for one so small," the tiger said, "and such spirit is deserving of a sporting chance. Now, I'll close my eyes and count to ten. It makes the chase more interesting. For me."

Marley watched as Shere Kahn started counting. Mowgli didn't run. Instead, just as Shere Kahn reached "three", he walked a few feet and picked up a branch. He braced it like a baseball player would a bat.

"You're trying my patience, mancub," Shere Kahn warned. Still Mowgli didn't budge. Baloo couldn't take much more of this, he sprinted over to where they stood, leaving Cameryn and Marley behind. As the bear approached, Shere Kahn lost patience.

"5-6-7-8-9-10!" he yelled and pounced. Mowgli's resolved disappeared and he stood paralyzed, horror replacing the scowl on his face. Just as the tiger's claws were about to run through the boy, Baloo yanked on his tail, slinging him back, and giving Mowgli a chance at escape.

The two girls whipped there heads at the others direction.

"LOOK OUT!" they screamed in unison as they began to run towards them, all hard feelings forgotten.

Somehow Baloo got turned around and Shere Kahn bit him hard. Mowgli, who'd been running away, reclaimed his stick and whacked Shere Kahn right in the face.

"Take that, you big bully!" he yelled. Shere Kahn wasn't going to take that lying down. Instantly, let go of Baloo and turned to Mowgli once again. The vultures, in an attempt to help Mowgli, rocketed out of the tree and lifted Mowgli up into the air in their claws.

"He's safe now, Baloo! You can let go!" a Vulture called.

"Are you kidding? There's teeth on the other end!" Baloo called back.

Just then, the tiger turned and attacked the bear in a flash of claws and teeth.

"Oh no!" said Cameryn. She and Marley had stopped halfway towards the fray.

"Don't worry, he'll be alright," said Marley, remembering the fake-death scene after Shere Kahn ran away with his tail ablaze. If she remembered correctly, lightning was supposed to strike a bunch of dead boughs that Mowgli would use to scare Shere Kahn. That was how everything ended. As if cued by her memory the lightning flashed and she covered her face. When she looked up she saw…nothing. The bolt missed!

"No! It was supposed to hit!" Cameryn cried "We're doomed!"

"No we're not," said Marley after a second's pause,"wait here."

Marley took off again towards Mowgli. If she had any luck it would still be there. Cameryn watched as she dug around in her pocket. Right as she was five feet in front of Mowgli she pulled out…a lighter? What was she doing with a lighter? She knew that her friend could be a bit nuts-o, but what was she doing with a lighter?

Marley ignited the lighter and tossed it towards the dead tree branches. Instantly they caught fire, "Hey guys! Down here! Fire!" she called.

"Fire! It's the only thing ol' stripes is afraid of!" exclaimed one of the vultures and set the boy down. Mowgli knew what to do from there.

(P.O.V.)

_Tonk! _The rock hit Kaa right between the eyes, aimed perfectly, causing him to release me from both his coils and his spell.

Not fully recovered, I fell to the ground with a loud _thump!_ As my mind began to clear, I became aware of two figures jogging into the clearing.

"Ha! That's whatcha get!" yelled one up at the snake. _Rikki,_ I thought in recognition.

"Kori! Oh gosh, are you ok?" asked the second figure, she jogged up and knelt over me.

"Yeah, yeah... I'm good Anya... Don't worry, I'll be fine." I drawled, sitting up, my hand pressed against my head.

"Come on," says Rikki helping me to my feet. She let her gentle side shine for once, "let's get you out of here. We have to let the others know you're ok."

Stabilizing myself, I leaned on their shoulders and began to walk with them. Then I remembered the threat sitting in the low-lying branches above. We were almost out of the clearing when a brownish-yellow blur flashed in front of us, blocking our escape.

"Ssso, you think I'd ssssimply let you go?" he hissed, almost casually.

"Careful!" I said to my friends, my voice still a bit groggy, "don't look at his eyes!"

Kaa laughed, "Trying to warn your friendsss? How cute. It doessssn't matter either way, I'll trick them as eassssily as I did you."

Rikki tensed, "Really? Well you'll have to catch us first."

As one, we all turned and ran in the opposite direction. Again, our way was blocked by the python just as we were about to escape.

"Go on, try again! I find thisss game rather amusing. Ssssooner or later you'll tire out," he taunted.

He was right. And we sure as heck couldn't keep this up all day. Unless...

"Guys," I whispered, "Split up." Rikki and Anya got my message immediately. Kaa couldn't get all of us at once. In the next second we ran in three different directions. I hoped against hope that he'd go after me and ignore the others. Unfortunately, before I had a chance to get very far, a shriek pierced the jungle. Someone had been caught. I flew back to the clearing, stopping a few feet short behind a tree.

I peeked around the edge and saw Anya, coiled around wrist. She was pulling back with her eyes shut tight in both caution and terror. Kaa blindly addressed the forest.

"Come out, come out," he chimed, "I know you're here." Kaa pulled Anya close and looped his head around her neck, his cheek pressed against hers. She tried to get lose, but Kaa held firm, "I've found you're sssssweet little friend. Ssshe was all alone, and sssso ssscared, too. A ssshame." From where I stood, I saw Rikki's face poking out from behind a tree right across the clearing. The look on her face was the same as mine, so I knew I had to do something before she got into trouble, too.

Without a second thought I stepped out from behind my tree and called, "Hey!"

Needless to say, the python's attention was drawn right to me. I didn't wait for him to lunge at me, which turned out to be a good thing. He was seconds behind me. I ran around a ways and then cut through the clearing, right passed Rikki. Seeing me zoom by, she stepped out from behind her tree and managed to capture Kaa's attention, leading him around a tree and in a new direction.

"Follow my lead!" she yelled back at me.

It took me a moment to realize what she meant, but once I did I tore through the clearing and intercepted the snake from behind Rikki, running around yet another tree and straight through the clearing again, where Rikki dashed out. We continued like this for a while, picking up where the other left off. Running in and out of the clearing, jumping over coils. Finally, as Rikki ran through the middle of the clearing and scooped up a long-forgotten Anya, I found I had to do nothing more than just jump out from behind a trunk and stand there. Kaa's head stopped mere inches from me. Confused, he looked back and found that he'd carelessly woven his body into a giant knot.

Before turning and catching up to the others, I smirked and said to him, "Looksss like you lose."

(P.O.V.)

As Disney fate would have it we ran smack dab into the other half of our group. We settled down to rest and retold what happened to each of us in a big jumble, but we all somehow managed to get the stories straight. Sort of.

"Well, it doesn't matter because now I get to keep my little bear cub. Right, Mowgli?" He looked around and found that Mowgli was nowhere in sight, "Mowgli? Mowgli!"

"Crap! Not again!" groaned Cameryn.

A short search around the surrounding area revealed that Mowgli hadn't run off at all. We found him nearby checking out-

"We made it!" I exclaimed. Out past the bushes lay the village. Inside it's gates, I saw people going about their daily business. Kids playing, mothers washing, a curious looking man standing around the entrance.

"Hey,what's that?" he asked pointing.

"Oh, that's the man-village," Bagheera was the one explain.

"No, no, _that!"_he pointed again, with more force. The rest of us looked and saw that a little girl had left the boundaries of the village to collect a jug of water.

_Fathers hunting in the forest_

_Mother's cooking in the home_

_I must go and fetch the water_

'_Till the day that I am grown_

Sang the girl as she stooped down to draw water from the stream.

The words of the riddle came flooding back to us.

"A child sings…" muttered Marley.

Mowgli, who had gone to have a closer look, landed from the branch of a tree and the two kids just stared at each other for who knows how long. Finally, the girl turned and started back for the village when she "accidentally" dropped the vessel. Mowgli, suddenly a gentleman, scrambled up and lifted it for her. Just as they were about to disappear into the village Marley shot out of the underbrush and ran to the girl. She started talking and motioning at the vase. At first the girl looked confused, but then she simply smiled, nodded, and gave Marley the jug.

Marley walked back to the group wearing the proudest grin on her face.

"Point for me!" she said triumphantly.

We were all so shocked that the only question that came to us was: "How are we supposed to carry that thing around?"

Automatically, Marley's MILD shot out a beam of light and shrank the jug to about the size of a dehydrated pea. The animals oohed and aahed along with us.

"Cool," breathed Rikki.

Then, as one, our MILDs beeped and we found ourselves on the road towards the next story.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five: **

After the teleportation we immediately noticed two things: one that it was scorching hot, more so than the jungle; and two, that we landed in the middle of a market place. Make that, on someone's fruit stand. Melons and other such items had been crushed under our weight on descent, covering us in sticky juices and pulp. This led to an encounter with a very angry merchant.

"MY STAND!" screamed the merchant "How will I ever make up for the profits? This will have me out of business for a month!"

"Sorry, dude," mumbled Marley, standing and flicking a piece of melon off her arm, "We can't really control where we crash."

"YOU!" He pointed a plump finger at us, " You did this! Vandals! VANDALS! Guards, arrest these criminals!" The merchant was causing a scene, much to our dismay.

"No, sir we aren't vandals! Please! It was a complete accident, we'll help clean up, and we'll pay for the damages." I groveled.

This did squat to quell the man's anger. He continued calling for guards. His yelling had managed to catch the attention of everyone within a 10 foot radius, some of them were burly men with curved swords on their belts.

"Oh, no! What do we do?" panicked Anya.

"What else is there to do? Let's make a break for it!" answered Rikki just as a couple of men in uniform broke through the crowd. At her suggestion, we all turned and ran like the wind. Passing dozens of mud-brick houses and wooden market stands, it didn't take long for it to dawn on us that we had landed in 'Aladdin'.

(P.O.V.)

After an exhausting chase, we found ourselves a prime hiding spot nestled on the roofs of an abandoned building. We took this as a chance to look over this world's riddle. The screens of our gadgets read:

Welcome to Aladdin! Your riddle is :

_In the desert hot and bleak_

_Is the item which you seek._

_What to you is treasure vast _

_Is another's prison past_

Cameryn sighed, "It's probably just as obvious as the last one. Nothing like a good riddle to make you feel stupid!"

"Aw, you're just jealous!" bragged Marley who was still relishing her victory back in Jungle book.

We all rolled our eyes. Thinking about the whole competition made my stomach churn. What would happen to those of us that didn't win? Surely Mickey would send us home. It would be cruel to do otherwise. But then again, what if? Or worse, what if none of us won this thing? That was an option I didn't even want to consider.

"Kori! What's wrong with you?" yelled Rikki which snapped me back to attention. All around me the eyes of my friends were staring expectantly in my direction, making me feel like I had just missed something important. Which I probably did. I am the queen of the zone out.

"Uh…" was all I could manage.

"You're impossible!" cried Cameryn, "we were just talking about how we need to find Aladdin. Anya just asked your opinion. Would it kill you to pay attention once in a while?"

Blushing a deep red I turned to Anya, "I'm sorry. Do you mind running the plan by me one more time?"

"Sure," she answered, her patience unaffected, "I thought we should go out and look for Aladdin in the city once the sun goes down. That way, no one can see us."

After thinking it over for a second, I answered "Yeah, the plan sounds good. But... I think the best thing for us to do is wait around the palace."

"But I thought you just agreed," said Anya, her voice sounding hurt.

"No, I do! I'm just saying that it's the smartest way to go about finding him. It's a lot less dangerous than looking in the desert or the market, on account of the fact that they're still hunting us down. He's probably already in there for all we know! The palace is our best bet."

Anya and the others took a moment to consider my idea. In the end they decided that we should head to the palace.

(SCENE CHANGE)

"_Oof!_ Hurry it up! I can't support your weight much longer." Whispered Marley who had been elected as the bottom of our human ladder (on account that she was the tallest.).

"Ok…I got the ledge!" answered Anya at the top of the ladder.

We had just snuck in through the front gate during some kind of delivery or something and spent an eternity trying to find a way inside. Finally, we settled on a window. A very high window.

Our plan was simple. Stack on each other's shoulders, grab window, climb up, jump inside.

Anya had already latched onto the sill and Marley was starting to shinny up our ladder leaving Cameryn's feet dangling in mid air. Once Marley made it up it was Cam's turn, then Rikki, then me, and finally we pulled up Anya just as she was about to slip.

"I heard the prowlers' voices down this way" our eyes popped open as we heard a distant guard talking to another.

"I also heard about a vandalism down by Rajeev's fruit stand." said the same guard, his voice got louder with each step he took.

"Hey, you don't think it could be the same criminals?" asked the second guard, they were getting closer!

"We jump on three. One-"began Marley.

"Three!" interrupted Anya, sensing our lack of time.

You'd be surprised how hard the ground can be when you jump off of a window sill that was at least ten feet off the ground with nothing to cusion your fall. And we didn't land on our feet either. With a loud _smack! _We hit the hard alabaster-stone ground. Miraculously we landed without any broken bones. Or deaths. Deaths would have been very bad.

As we lay there in a big, pained heap a shadow descended over us. Dizzied, I cocked my head up to get a good look at what the shadow belonged to.

I would have been ecstatic to say that it was none other than Princess Jasmine, who got us to our feet, offered us a nice hot meal, a change of clothes, and the answer to our riddle, thereby sending us on our merry way to the next story. But seriously now people, we just don't have that kind of luck.

Instead my gaze was greeted by a tall, lanky man with a sinister looking beard. He wore dark clothing and held a golden staff with a snakes head at the top. On his shoulder perched an obnoxious looking parrot. It was Jafar, a.k.a the bad guy. (No really, have you actually payed attention to his beard? It's scary enough to make Sanjaya's personal hair stylist cry!)

Quickly, the five of us sprang to our feet.

"And who might you be?" Jafar asked glaring down at us.

"Well, you see-"started Marley

"We're servants!" I finished, not wanting Marley to get us all locked up.

Jafar lifted an eyebrow, clearly not convinced.

"W-we uh, came here with…" I was stumped. I couldn't come up with a decent story. Then it hit me. "Prince Ali Abagwa's caravan!"

The words rushed up out of my mouth like a roller coaster.

"Really now?" he asked in a mocking voice.

"Yeah, right guys?" spoke up Rikki. We all nodded earnestly in response. I was tense. I was tenser than tense. My muscles had turned to stone with tension.

"Well if you all are so convinced now might be a good time to tell you that there is no one here by the name Abooboo."

Crap. What was I supposed to do now? Beg for mercy? Grovel for our lives? No play it cool.

"Really, 'cause-"the sound of beating drums cut me off and we all turned towards the nearest balcony to check it out. Disney being Disney we saw a long, fancy caravan progressing towards the palace.

"-there he is now." I finished with relief flushing in my cheeks. We were safe.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six**

"You had to say servants." complained Cameryn as she wrung out a sudsy, brown turban, "Ugh, if I wanted to do chores I could have just stayed home."

"Well, what else was I supposed to do? If it wasn't for my quick thinking we would probably be locked up in some dungeon…or worse." I snapped back, hanging up a wet robe on a line, "And besides, I don't recall any of you jumping to my rescue!"

"Oh please!" Cameryn snapped a towel at me, "Like you gave us a chance!"

"I'm sensing some animosity between the two of you," examined Dr. Marley, PHD.

As soon as Aladdin, or should I say Prince Ali, burst through the doors of the palace Jafar had wasted no time in brutal scrutiny and questioning on our part. Thank God that one of Aladdin's best skills is improvising.

"These girls claim that they are a part of your caravan, _Prince _Abooboo," Jafar sneered, "Is it true?"

Aladdin looked over at us. We were huddled together in the throne room. At first his expression looked bewildered as he looked us over. That's when, for the second time that day, inspiration struck.

"Y-yes, don't you remember your highness? We were stopped in, um… that one city where we had that…elephant issue. You sent us ahead to…" I was stuck.

Aladdin's face changed instantly, he nodded, not taking his eyes off mine. "Right! Of course!" he looked towards the sultan, "I sent them ahead to announce my arrival! I, uh, didn't want to appear rude to the father of my, hopefully, soon to be fiancé." He puffed up his chest and threw back his cape.

The sultan perked up at the mention of his daughter's eligibility. "Oh, wonderful! I'm glad we've gotten this matter straightened out! Heh-heh! See Jafar? There was a perfectly reasonable explanation."

Jafar however didn't seem convinced, but he relented and went on to oppose Jasmine's marriage to Aladdin.

On the dim side though, the nobles put us to work immediately. So, there we were, doing someone's laundry in the courtyard.

"Yeah, we owe our lives to the genius of Kori." mumbled Rikki sarcastically.

As you could see I was no one's favorite person at the time.

_Great_ I thought, _you help save their necks and this is the thanks you get. _

"Come on guys!" I stood up and put my hand on my hips, "It was either this or the dungeon. And think how much help THAT would be! There weren't that many options. You understand, right?"

No one looked up at me or spoke a word, but their silence spoke volumes.

"Ok, ok. Fine! Next time I'll let you guys do the talking, but for right now we should just focus on this laundry and see if we can solve the riddle." I said and knelt over to pick up a soaked shirt.

No one objected.

"How did that thing go again?" asked Anya while she scrubbed out a fancy cape.

"Uh…Oh!'In the desert hot and bleak is the treasure which you seek!'" piped up Marley

"'what for you is treasure vast…" continued Rikki.

"'…is another's prison past'" finished Cameryn.

There was a long, silent moment of deep thought. 'In the desert hot and bleak…' that was the obvious part. 'What for you is treasure vast…?' What did we consider treasure? 'Is another's prison…'

In realization we snapped up and stared wide-eyed at each other.

"The Lamp!" we exclaimed in unison.

The moment we discovered the answer to our riddle chaos broke out. It was all a blur of arguments and yelling things such as "I got it first!" and "OOO! I CALL IT!"

Anya, being our young peace keeper, dove into the middle of the fray and broke up the arguments.

"Guys! Stop it, all we're doing is calling attention to ourselves!" she screamed.

Having both the guards, still chasing the fruit vandals and the ever suspicious Jafar on our trail this shut us up fast.

"If we can't decide what to do like the mature adults we aren't then the smartest thing to do is just go and talk to Aladdin all together. Then and only then do we proceed to ripping each other's throats out while we try to grab the lamp, agreed?" she yelled.

The rest of us nodded in silence.

"Okay," she said, and then muttered "teenagers."

(scene)

Jafar watched as the girls dispersed to their separate tasks. He had overheard the entire conversation.

"So, the little brats are after the lamp, too." He said to himself.

"I knew it Jafar, I knew it!" squawked Iago on his shoulder "Didn't I tell you? They were trouble from the start! Now we've got competition. Whattaya gonna do about _that_, wise guy?"

"Silence, Iago!" Jafar snapped then hit the bird on the head with his staff, "There is no problem here, we just make sure that the lamp is ours before these so-called maids even get a chance to look at it."

(scene)

It took us an entire day to finally find some free time together. The moment we did we set out to find Aladdin. We had figured that he would most likely be in his guest suite.

We hurried as fast as we could only to find him running towards the menagerie.

"Aladdin! Wait!" called Rikki but it was too late, he was already out of ear shot.

"Poor guy," said Marley, "Maybe we should warn him about what's gonna happen."

"There's no time!" answered Cameryn "anyways, there won't be anything to warn him about if we get to the lamp first."

"Still...Ok. So do we just waltz in there and grab the darned thing?"

"Yeah I guess." I answered.

We started walking to Aladdin's suite again. Then I started to think about taking the lamp from the story. What affects could it have on the story? When we took it would Aladdin get it back at all? Cameryn did have a point, if we took the lamp, then nothing goes wrong. Jafar was at large, and Jasmine will never find out that Aladdin lied. But what about Genie? What would happen to him? And just because he was wanted didn't guarantee that Jafar wouldn't try to get rid of Aladdin again. We were almost to the suite when…

"Guys, stop!" I cried.

My friends whirled around with confused expressions.

"Stop?" repeated Cameryn. "Are you kidding? We're five feet from the room!"

"I know, but think about this. What'll happen when we leave with the lamp?"

This caused at least Marley to stop and think a minute. Cameryn and Rikki however, were not impressed.

"I don't know and I don't care!" she snapped, "but one thing I do care about is getting the heck home!"

"Yeah, I'm with Cam!" second Rikki.

"Look getting home is important but is it worth putting this world in potential danger?" I shook my head and snapped back.

"Kori's got a point." Added Marley, "Maybe there's another way to get it."

"Maybe, but I'm sick of folding laundry and polishing statues! We have a chance and I'm taking it!" yelled Rikki.

"Guys, will you calm down?" pleaded Anya shyly.

Anya. Like two lions hunting the same antelope we attacked her.

"Anya you're with us right?"

"No, she's on our side!"

"C'mon Anya! You wouldn't do that to Aladdin."

"Anya, you want to get home I bet."

We went on and on. Anya this and Anya that. All the while crescendoing in both volume and anger. This little fling suddenly turned into an all-out war. Both sides were screaming at each at each other. As the intensity grew we all took hold of one of Anya's arms and started human tug-of-war!

"HA! HA! You Suckers!" we heard someone yell from above.

Our heads snapped skyward and we caught sight of Iago flying through the air carrying the lamp in his claws. It didn't take an idiot to figure out where he was heading.

" I always hated that guy!" I mumbled.

"See? While we were arguing over the stupidity that Kori got in her head we coulda snagged the lamp! But no, Ms. Goody two-shoes here had to grow a conscience," yelled Cameryn.

"OH! YOU ARE SO FULL OF IT!" I screamed at her, "Instead of bragging about your victory let's go get that lamp back!" I put on my leader hat and instructed: "Anya, I'm counting on you on you to get to the Sultan, Aladdin and Jasmine. To the rest of you, we have to get that lamp back or at least try to. We've got no time to lose, let's go."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter7:**

Anya ran as fast as her feet could carry her. She had to make it on time, she just had to! Whether Kori and the others actually managed to get the lamp back she still had to warn Aladdin about Jafar's whereabouts.

But why did Kori choose her? Better yet why did she accept? Kori knew she wasn't particularly fast. If she wanted fast she should have asked Cameryn or Rikki. They were both strong and very athletic and either one of them would do a better job at actually warning Aladdin. Anya wasn't exactly the most outgoing person. Yes, Rikki or Cameryn would have done a way better job. Anya sighed, but she kept running. Regardless of who was faster this was her job.

Finally she made it to the steps leading up to the balcony where the three characters were standing. Anya huffed and puffed up the stairs. The sky was already turning an orangy red. She had to hurry. Just as she was about to reach the second to last step a huge explosion knocked her off her feet and sent her sailing through the air. The next thing she knew she was out cold.

(scene)

Once Anya was off the rest of us dashed to Jafar's lair. You would think that the entrance to a place like that would be impossibly hard to find, but when you've been posing as a servant for these people you find out where everything is, including the "secret" stuff.

Anyway, we silently pushed back the hidden door and crept up the stairs as fast and quietly as possible. With the reddish black glow of the walls and the pungent smell of humidity and who-knows-what-else it's needless to say that it was pretty creepy.

When we finally reached the top of the stairs the first thing we noticed was the lamp. The second was that it was in Jafar's hand.

"Shoot!" muttered Rikki.

At the utterance of her word Jafar perked up like a dog when it hears a sound. We were paralyzed with fear. Luckily, Marley recovered her wits in time to push us all behind an impossibly thick column. I poked my head from behind the column and Jafar turned his around slowly. I ducked back holding my breath. After a minute he turned back around and I let out a sigh of relief. I continued to watch. He looked at the lamp for a second then rubbed it vigorously. Within a few seconds the Genie streamed out. As he formed it became apparent that his back was turned.

"Y'know, Al you're really…" trailed Genie as he came face to face with Jafar.

"I don't think you're him," He finished.

I whipped back around to the others and was met with three faces silently yelling "What now?" I pressed my finger to my lips and continued to watch the scene. As the conversation progressed Jafar sub-consciously placed the lamp on a pedestal diagonal to his back. _Bingo!_ I thought. Again I turned to the others and signaled them to wait there. I then proceeded to creep straight to the lamp. Slowly, painfully, agonizingly slow.

As I got closer to the lamp the Genie's eyes caught sight of me and for the second time I froze. My eyes grew twice in size and I signaled him wildly to keep quiet. He got the message and nodded slightly to show he understood. Unfortunately, his actions weren't hidden from Jafar. He whirled around so suddenly I gasped.

"You!" he screeched

My eyes darted towards the lamp and I began to run for it. My fingers were close enough to barely brush the handle when zap! A red beam of energy shot at me lightning fast. A searing feeling spread through my bones and I cried out in pain. He left me suspended for a full minute to let the pain sink in, then as suddenly as it appeared it dissipated and I crumpled to the ground.

"It seems that I caught the little ringleader." He hissed at me.

"Kori!" I heard Cam scream. She and Marley made a beeline for both the lamp and for me but before either of them could clear five paces they suffered my same fate.

"Stop this you monster!" screamed Rikki bolting straight towards Jafar. He shot at her but her soccer-toned reflexes kicked in and she dodged. Rikki kept sprinting. She lunged at Jafar, to rip him apart no doubt. As she did I swear I detected a look of horror cross his face and Iago flew right out the window (trust me on this, you do NOT want to get Rikki mad). But he managed to control even the terror that is Rikki's fury.

When Rikki, having received a particularly strong blast, fell to the floor unconscious so did our hopes. I prayed with every fiber of my being that Anya had made it to Aladdin.

(Scene)

About an hour later the four of us found ourselves chain linked together in the throne room. Everything was extremely sinister looking compared to a couple of days ago when we first came through the window. The giant statue of an elephant's head that stood behind the throne was gone. In its place was the head of a cobra with its hood and fangs extended.

It was more than apparent that Anya hadn't made it. Just to make sure though I asked Jasmine if she'd seen her. Jasmine shook her head and answered "No, I'm sorry. Wherever she is it's better than here."

She was right. At the moment it looked as if our situation couldn't possibly get any worse. Worst of all was the question and worry that kept swirling around in my thoughts: Where was Anya?

(Scene)

Anya came to with a bad headache. She couldn't remember where she was as she looked around. Bricks and shards of glass laid scattered about and the palace was no longer there. Then she remembered the explosion. She knew now that Jafar had caused this. She hated him. She hated him with everything she had.

They had failed. All of them. Anya's eyes filled with tears when she thought of what could possibly be happening to her friends. _Or what already happened…_she thought. No! She couldn't think like that. Her friends were alive. There had to be another way to get out of here.

Just then she felt a shadow pass quickly over her and she turned skywards. Aladdin was on his way to the palace! They were safe!

"Hey! Aladdin wait!" she yelled as she ran after the carpet. "Wait! Take me with you!"

The carpet stopped and Aladdin turned. Anya soon made it to where they hovered.

"It's me," she panted, "I was one the girls posing as a servant."

Aladdin nodded, "I remember you. What happened? Is Jasmine alright? The Sultan? G-"He caught himself, still thinking that Anya didn't know about the lamp.

"It's alright. I know about Genie, and Jasmine and the sultan are safe. I was knocked out this whole time. Please take me with you, my friends are in there and I have to get them out!"

Aladdin didn't think twice. "Hop on."

Anya did as she was told. "Thank you so much!"

(Scene)

I don't know about the others but after a while in our crisis I was ready to go stark raving mad. We were chained down (as mentioned previously), worried sick due to Anya's disappearance, and worst of all, subject to listen to the annoying little parrot gloat about crackers nonstop. He laughed as he stuffed a bunch into the sultan's mouth.

"Stop it, stop it, please!" begged Jasmine. Jafar snapped his fingers and the Sultan's mouth shut tight thus ending the bird's ability to brag. _Ahhh, sweet relief._ The looks on friends' faces made it apparent that we were all thinking the same thing.

_Clash!_

A golden bowl hit the floor as Jasmine fell trying to avoid Jafar's blow. We all sat up as if we could go to Jasmine's defense. Then Jafar slowly lowered his hand and said "Genie, my second wish! I wish Princess Jasmine would fall desperately in love with me."

Jasmine gasped in horror and the Genie started mumbling "Uh, master. There are some, uh, quid pro quos-"

"Silence!" Jafar bellowed

I recognized this part instantly and thought it would never come. To confirm myself I looked towards the window and saw none other than Aladdin, Abu, and the carpet. Jasmine spotted them as well.

"Oh, Jafar." She called.

"Man I hate this part!" whispered Cameryn.

The scene played out as usual ending with the infamous sacrificial kiss. As it happened we all cringed and shivered with disgust. Needless to say, it was extremely awkward.

Jafar then saw Aladdin's reflection on Jasmine's tiara and the battle began. Jafar turned and went after Aladdin, who blocked the attack and yelled to Jasmine to "Get the lamp!" Jasmine made a dash for the lamp but was encased in a giant hour glass. The carpet went for it and so did Abu but like Jasmine both were subdued. This left only Aladdin. We watched painfully from the side lines unable to help at all as he was faced with falling swords, being trapped in a ring of flames and finally, having to deal with the giant Snake Jafar. There, he was slowly being crushed by his coils. He was about to say the thing about the Genie being more powerful when the impossible happened. He was knocked out by the pressure.

"What? No! No, no, no! This doesn't happen! This CAN'T happen!" screamed a hyperventilating Rikki.

But to our complete horror, it was. Jafar was winning. I began thinking that it was best that Anya wasn't here. That way she didn't have to go through our fate, whatever it was. She might get a chance to get home. Jafar began laughing manically.

"Yes! Nothing can stop me now!" he said victoriously.

"Wrong, scale face!"

Everyone, minus Jasmine who was currently being buried in sand, turned their head. There, by the throne holding a discarded machete stood our shy little Anya.

"End of the line!" she yelled and sprinted towards him at full speed swinging the blade. The Giant snake Jafar made a strike at her, but thinking quickly, she stabbed his snout. He whipped back in pain and released Aladdin.

Aladdin fell to the floor and after a minute regained consciousness. Once awake he said those clever, almost magical words that brought down Jafar using his own hunger for power.

(scene)

In a burst of light, everything was back to normal. Inside his new black lamp, we could here Jafar and Iago arguing over their cramped space. Before Genie could send them off the Cave of Wonders, Marley burst forward.

"Wait!" she cried, snatched the lamp from Aladdin and gave it a few whacks against a pearly white column. "How do ya like that?" Then she turned back to Genie and Aladdin, handed them the lamp, said, "I'm good, proceed," and walked away like nothing happened. Aladdin and the Genie only stared after her.

"What was that supposed to do exactly?" asked Cameryn.

"It's payback," answered Marley, "and it felt good."

I smiled and shook my head, and watched as Genie sent off Jafar for good. Once the lamp made contact with the Cave a flash of light shuddered in the horizon. Jasmine came up behind Aladdin and took his hand. His smile faded.

"Jasmine," he started, "I'm sorry for lying about being a prince."

"I know why you did," she said.

Aladdin hesitated a moment, "Well…I guess this is goodbye."

"Ugh! That stupid law! This isn't fair! I love you."

"Oh, c'mon Al, just say the word and you'll be a prince again!" exclaimed the Genie.

"But what about you?" asked Aladdin.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just an eternity of servitude." Genie winced as he said it.

Aladdin bowed his head.

"Al, you're not gonna find another girl like this in a million years! Believe me, I've looked." The genie said.

Aladdin looked at Jasmine and said "Jasmine, I really do love you, but I can't keep pretending to be something I'm not."

"I understand." She replied and Aladdin turned to Genie once more.

"Genie," he said authoritatively "I wish you free."

At his words the lamp and the Genie's shackles began to glow. The lamp shook violently and his shackles dropped one by one. The moment they both hit the floor the lamp lost its glow and its power.

"I-I'm free." Genie couldn't believe it. "I'm free!" He flew around and conjured up a suite case. He was wildly packing random items into it when he caught sight of Aladdin's face.

"Genie, I'll miss you."

"You too Al," he came down to Aladdin's level and embraced him," no matter what anyone says, you'll always be a prince to me."

The last comment struck a chord deep inside the Sultan, "That's right!" he was flustered, "You've certainly proven your worth. It's that _law…_"

Jasmine brightened slightly, "Father?"

"Well am I Sultan or am I Sultan? I declare that from this day forth the princess shall marry whoever she deems worthy!"

"Him!" Jasmine wasted no time, "I chose you Aladdin."

Anya found this as her opportunity. She walked forward to the Genie and said. "Um, now that you don't need it anymore, do you think that maybe we could have your lamp?"

The genie couldn't have agreed faster. "Here, take it! It's yours! Do what you like because I'm FREE!" He placed the lamp in her hands and closed her fingers around it. The moment he did so she ran back to us wearing a giant grin on her face.

Our MILDs beeped and shrank the lamp then they sent us on to our next adventure.

(scene)

The girls set off for the next movie thinking that evil had been conquered. But, if they had looked into a deserted corner of the throne room, they would have seen a mysterious man scowling in their direction.

"So," he said to himself, "these children think this is all going to be so easy for them, do they? Then maybe it's time I step up _my_ game."

With one last glare at the happy couple and the sultan, the man reached into his cloak and removed a remote. He pressed a button and disappeared.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

Once again we were sent violently spinning to our next story. Though something felt a little weird. It's hard to explain, but about halfway through there was a...a jolt, like that feeling you get when you dream that you're falling. Down, down, down you go and then, right before you hit bottom, your body jumps you awake and you sit up, sweating and half wondering what just happened. Only, instead of putting an end to things, the spiraling continued. At first, I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me. After all, spinning out of control isn't something I was used to feeling. So, I ignored it.

When it was over I landed on a bristly, dying bush. I lay there for a while. The teleportation really got me exhausted and it felt good to just be able to lay down and relax. It was a good five minutes of peace and quiet when I realized what was wrong: it was a good five minutes of peace and quiet. By now I would have heard something from someone! My eyes opened in a flash and I searched around frantically. All I saw was semi-barren land with dying grass as tall as my shoulder. Where ever I was, it looked as though it hadn't rained in months.

"Rikki? Cameryn? Hello? Anyone?" I called out only to be answered by silence.

My mind sent me back to the Kaa episode from back in the Jungle Book and my heart started to thump. I found that panic was mounting in the pit of my stomach. I turned to the only thing I could do to stay calm: self-coaching. It may sound ridiculous, but whenever I feel overwhelmed, talking myself through things actually makes me feel better.

"Ok, Kori. You're ok, they are probably all fine. They're just... somewhere else. All you gotta-"

Crash! The sound brought me out of my thoughts. I whirled and looked in the direction of the bush I had landed in myself. I was instantly relieved to see none other than Marley, staggering up off the bush with a twig stuck in her thick hair. As she stood, she brushed some brown dust off her t-shirt and shorts. Or at least she tried to. The moment she was up on her feet I ran and gave her a flying tackle hug. I couldn't help myself. There was a certain joy in finding a familiar face in such a depressing land.

"Whoa! Where did that come from?" asked Marley, her voice was half-joking.

I let go of her and give her a look, "No one else is here. You're the first person I've seen since we left Aladdin."

"Nuh-uh!" she exclaimed, but the moment she got a look around she knew I wasn't kidding.

Her expression went from expectant to downright stony, "C'mon." was all she said. That's one thing about Marley. She's a total clown and all, but when the situation demands it the most, she goes into this really serious state. The transformation takes only a second, so when it happens, it's almost scary.

"Where are we going?" I asked, scuttling up behind her.

"We're gonna go look for the others."

That's exactly what we did. We searched the place for five minutes, which soon multiplied into ten minutes. Then twenty, then thirty, then long enough for me to lose interest in keeping track of time. We settled down on clear patch of dirt in the sea of dead, itchy grass, right back where we started.

"Well its obvious they're not nearby." sighed Marley.

"That's weird. Normally we all end up in the same place. Do you suppose they got here first and went to look for us?" I thought aloud.

Marley was quiet for a moment and said "I don't think they did. Look. You see where we landed? Those bushes were so dry we snapped some branches clean when we fell. But there's only two spots where it happened. If the others fell here, there'd be more. They've gotta be somewhere else," she paused for a second before saying, "Wait." I watched as she pulled out her MILD and tried to contact the others. She tried, but it failed. The call wouldn't go through.

"Great." she muttered.

As she was about to put the gadget back into her pocket, it started beeping, as did mine. We took them out again, assuming that our friends were trying to get in touch with us, but when we looked, we were surprised to see a picture of Mickey on the screen.

I threw a curious look at Marley, but all she did was shoot it back to me. Shrugging, we answered and a live video of Mickey streamed through.

He looked slightly worried.

"Hiya, fellas!" he chirped,his voice a few tones higher than usual, "How ya doin'?"

"Uh...We-we're fine. But, we can't find our friends anywhere, and they won't pick up their MILDs." I told him.

"Yeah, well that's what I wanted to talk to you about. See, we, uh, had a mishap with the system..." he trailed off.

"What do you mean 'mishap'?" asked Marley. Her normally joyful tone was now sharp.

"Well, ya see fellas, somethin' went wrong on your last trip. In the middle of it there was a glitch and it seemed to drop you all off at different times-"

I thought back to the jolt in the middle of the teleportation. So, I thought, I really did feel something. I wasn't imagining things.

"You mean everyone's still trapped?" Marley practically screamed. She was mad. And, heck, so was I! These people, if you could call them that, were responsible for our lives! Hearing about major glitches like this one made me beyond nervous.

"No, not at all! What happened was that it dropped them off in a different place."

the mouse explained.

"What about the M.I.L.D.s?" questioned Marley, "I can't get through to them."

"They must have been knocked out by whatever caused the malfunction. Don't worry though, I promise we'll fix it as soon as we can. The only problem is that we can't teleport them or you to your location once we do so you're on your own on that one. Sorry."

Yeah, I thought bitterly, cause we've had _so_ much help before.

"But then, how are you calling us? Why does it work for you and not for them?" I asked.

Mickey shook his head, "I dunno what to tell ya. We got lucky, I guess."

"Ok, no problem," I lied, "we can manage. Just...try to keep us up to date on the problems."

"Ok," he said and signed off.

Marley and I stood there until our MILDs beeped again. I was hoping that it would be Mickey, or the others, only to find it was our riddle. In a way, that helped to soften my disappointment. At least now we had something to keep us distracted. The screen read:

**Welcome to The Lion King! Your riddle is:**

_In the grasslands of the pride, _

_Is where you item subtle hides._

_Used in wisdom from a friend,_

_It helps bring Scar's reign to an end._

"The lion king?" exclaimed Marley, "I don't remember the Lion King being this depressing."

"I know. Maybe we should walk around some more. Y'know, just to make sure we're in the right story." I suggested.

The two of us kept walking through the rough grasslands. Our surroundings were perfectly desolate. There wasn't an animal in sight. With every step we took, miniature clouds of dust puffed out from under our feet. The sky wasn't even visible and the overcast made it seem almost like it was night. It was kind of funny, in a bad sort of way. Finally, we came up to a site that answered our location question. Looming majestically, almost threatening, across the horizon was a giant rock formation. Pointed, smooth and with a protruding ledge, was pride rock.

Marley let out a low whistle, clearly impressed by the sight in front of us.

"Dang! That place is fa-ncy! For a rock anyway."

I nodded in agreement. It was a much more impressive sight in person. The television screen doesn't do it justice. Squinting, I looked to the ledge and saw a male lion walking to the edge.

"Marley, look!" I said and pointed.

She followed my line of vision until she, too, spotted the lion.

"Do you think it's Mufasa? Or Simba?"she asked, cocking her head a little to get a better look.

" I'm not sure," I shook my head, "he's too far away. Lets keep looking, maybe he can help."

We stood still for a minute or two as he walked up Pride Rock. As he got closer it became clear that it was neither Simba nor Mufasa; it was our worst nightmare. Unfortunately, Marley hadn't recognize him yet.

"HEY! OVER HERE!" she jumped up and down, waving her arms above her head.

I pulled her down to the ground as fast as I could manage. We crouched in the grass.

"Stop it!", I hissed. It came out harsher than intended, but it got her attention, "don't you realize who that is?"

She scrunched her brow, "Not really...why?"

"That's Scar!" I answered.

"Oh," her eyes widened. "That's not good."

While we were hiding in the Pridelands, trying not to be discovered by Scar or his goons, our friends were facing a very different horror. Grubs. Or should I say the eating of grubs. Cameryn turned green as Timon slid another leaf-full of bugs in front of her.

"C'mon, eat! You look half starved!" he urged in his signature, northeastern accent.

"Please, no more!" cried Rikki.

Pumbaa, the more sensitive of the two, came up to her defense, sensing her distaste , "Hey, Timon, I don't think they want any more. Maybe we should-"

"Nonsense, Pumbaa! They love the stuff! They just feel bad about takin' so much, that's all!" The meerkat waved him off.

Cameryn couldn't believe this. First, their separation from her friends, then the bad news from Mickey, and now THIS! Out of all of her torments, nothing came close to having to swallow half a dozen creepy crawlers. While they were still crawling.

On the plus side, though, her group had had a while to think about the riddle. So far they had come up blank.

"Look, Timon, I really think we've had enough. In reality we're all... having a little trouble holding it down. Thanks for the hospitality but, right now, we have a pressing need to find Simba." explained Anya, ever the diplomat.

Timon made a face and responded, "Oh, he's off with some old girlfriend of his. What was her name? Nira, Naomi..."

"Nala?" offered Rikki.

"Yeah, yeah somethin' like that..." he trailed off, uninterested.

"Say, you guys seem to know a lot about us," said Pumbaa.

The girls shared a look.

"There's a reason for that," said Cameryn,starting to stand, " It's really a long story."

"OOOh! I love stories!," squealed Pumbaa "I'll go get the grubs."

Back in the Pridelands, Marley and I were hiding behind a big, curved-top boulder.

We had been crawling for what seemed like hours in search of a decent hiding place.

The two of were greatly relieved when we found it. The giant, moss covered, stone was like an oasis in the middle of an endless desert. We couldn't have run to it any faster than we did.

"Ugh!" I groaned in exasperation. I wanted to scream. From the moment we sat down, we'd been trying to get in touch with the others. So far, we had no such luck.

"I can't believe this. The mouse couldn't have fixed the communications system by now? He's had hours!" I vented.

"uh-huh." muttered Marley, only half listening at this point. All the while she continued to tip-tap on the gadget. I was boring her, I knew it, but I didn't care. I had a bit of stored up frustration, and I would have even vented to Scar if he'd been the closest living being around.

"Ok," she said after another while " I'm gonna try calling on yours. Maybe that'll work."

"Fine," I huffed and passed her my MILD.

She pressed on Cameryn's picture and called her MILD. For a few seconds, the picture was frozen on the screen, as usual. Then the most amazing thing happened, it started to ring. And it kept ringing, and ringing, and ringing! The monotone ring was glorious! It sounded almost as powerful and beautiful as church bells! It was happening, we were about to make a call. The thing was fixed! It was-

"I'm sorry, but your call has been disconnected. Please hang up and try again later." the machine blipped and that was that.

It didn't work. Again. We were so close and it didn't work! I felt like crying, anger bubbled up in a hot stream, deep in my very soul. Suddenly, I couldn't stand the sight of that stupid thing. Without even looking at Marley, I took the MILD out of her hand and chucked it as far as I could. Seeing the object of my misery fly far and fast in the air, then land with a thump yards away, gave me a sense of justification. It suffered just as bad as I had.

Then I realized what I had done. A sinking feeling flushed into my chest, my cheeks went hot. I looked up at Marley and immediately felt worse. Marley gave me a look of anger, bordering hatred. It was terrifying. I had never seen her that steamed. Come to think of it, I'd never seen her angry, period. I couldn't blame her though. What I did was pretty- no - very stupid! For one, I could have damaged the MILD, and, for another, a very important other, I could have given away our location to a pack of Scars hyena's. And very well to Scar himself.

"Oh man. I'm stupid." was all I could say.

Marley's head came close to mine. "Ya think?" she hissed in a vicious whisper.

There was only one thing to do now. I had to get up, walk over at least three yards, and get the MILD back. All the while possibly exposing both Marley and Myself in the process.

Oh, boy.


	9. Chapter 9

Anya, Cameryn, and Rikki had been searching for Simba all afternoon. It was now well after dark and stars littered the horizon. Still, there was no sign of Simba or their friends. Timon and Pumbaa had been little help in the search and had long since given up. Even after hearing the girls' story they just dubbed it another Hakkuna Matata situation; with that, the girls were on their own.

"Well, it _is_ the Lion King, right?" asked Anya, trying to make a point. They'd been looking for hours and she wasn't sure she could take much more. Her feet were aching, her feet were on fire, and her eyelids weighed a ton. Rikki was driving them hard with no intention of stopping anytime soon. She was tired, but she determined to make the point as pleasantly as possible, "and Simba is the main character, so he's bound to turn up sometime soon," she yawned, "so maybe we'll find him tomorrow?"

Cameryn, who was just as tired, jumped at the chance, "She's right. We should get some rest."

This didn't sit well with Rikki, "Rest?"She echoed, her voice low, clear, and lethal, "We can't rest! What if we DON'T find him? And what about Marley and Kori? Even if we-"

"Calm down." Cameryn put a hand to her shoulder, " We won't find them like this. Anya has a point we need to call it a night."

Rikki huffed. She couldn't believe they were being so passive! Anya sure she could except that, the kid was only 12, but Cameryn? Did they forget what they had at steak here? They had their way home, their friends and family, their very lives! She had a million great arguments but seeing the tired looks on her friends' faces, Rikki restrained herself.

"Fine," she muttered, not looking at them, "stop if you want to. Just don't try to convince me. I'm gonna keep looking."

Cameryn and Anya gave their friend a worried look. She had a naturally intense spirit, but the pressure was getting to her. Still, there was very little they could do about it now.

"Ok," said Anya, rubbing her left eye, "sounds fair enough. Just promise us you'll get some rest later."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," She answered, waving at them absently before running off.

She left the others behind and sprinted to the one place they hadn't checked in over an hour: the field. Wind flew past her as she swept through the brush. Finally, after a fair amount of running, she made it. Her eyes scanned the horizon carefully, swiftly. There! She could see him and he wasn't alone. Rafiki was there babbling incoherently about a squashed banana. Rikki continued her approach. She was close enough to hear their conversation.

"Oh, and I suppose you know?" she caught Simba saying sarcastically.

"Sure do," answered Rafiki "you're Mufasa's boy!" Simba's head snapped up at hearing his father's name. He looked over at the baboon. "Bye!" with that, Rafiki scampered off.

_Good,_ thought Rikki _I can get him alone-_

But when she looked up again she found Simba heading back to the jungle, chasing after Rafiki.

_Oh no you don't!_ She said to herself and ran after him. After all of this she was not going to lose him now!

There was a small knoll separating them and the jungle, and the monkey was perched, meditation style, atop it. She continued after Simba as he slowed to a trot. They both stopped as they reached the primate.

"You knew my Father?" asked Simba.

"Correction, I _know_ your father." replied Rafiki, his eyes closed.

Rikki stifled a laugh. That part always made her laugh as a kid, and apparently it still did! She marveled at how well she remembered it all as she watched the scene unfold. When Rafiki took off a second time she followed, this time out of wanting to see the movie first hand. Back in the dense vegetation, she struggled to keep up. Thick roots and cobwebs snagged at her.

"STOP!" Rafiki called. Rikki had been paying so much attention to the terrain, she skidded to a stop mere feet behind Simba. She watched the scene unfold, as Simba saw his reflection change, as he heard his fathers spirit and his appearance in the clouds.

His father, now she remembered why she related to this movie so well. She felt the pain of Simba's loss first hand. She sat down. It brought back memories of having him around, playing a game of makeshift soccer in the yard, and even the earlier days when all she wanted to do was play tea party with him. The movie changed and Simba was now running after the clouds. The words not unlike her own; "Father, don't leave me!"

A moment in the scene snapped her out of her reverie. Rafiki took his stick and swiped Simba with it.

"Ow! Jeeze! What was that for?" the lion snapped at the baboon.

"It doesn't matter, it's in the past!" he laughed.

"Yeah," Simba said, rubbing his head "but it still hurt."

"Yes, the past can hurt, but you either run from it..." Rafikki swiped at Simba again, this time though Simba ducked, "...or you learn from it."

The Baboon had made his point, and Rikki was hit with a realization not unlike the blow Rafiki dealt the lion. She had all the answers she needed. But, in her current state of wonder and accomplishment, she didn't see the three hundred pound lion charging in her direction.

BAM! He hit hit her with full force, knocking the wind out of her.

"Oh! Sorry, didn't…see…" he trailed as he realized what Rikki was. He backed up slowly.

Rikki sat up and smiled "Simba. Just the lion I wanted to see."

(scene)

_Three…two…one! _I bolted out from behind our rock, straight for the MILD lying in the dust. I had to get this right and I had to do it fast! Cursing myself for being such an idiot, I crawled. Run-crawling like that reminded me of an armadillo trying to clear a highway without getting smashed. I just hoped I'd end up better than the average armadillo.

The farther I went, the farther the gadget seemed to get. This was taking forever! Looking back I could see that I cleared a good ten feet or so. My efforts were paying off! Nearing my MILD, I scooped it up, and hightailed it back to a despairing Marley.

I sat with a thud, my back hitting our boulder with decent force, but I was too numb to feel it. For a moment we both sat there, staring straight ahead. Then, quiet at first, Marley began to laugh a truly relieved laugh. I joined in, and five minutes later, we were still laughing like a couple of loons. She patted me on the back in a way that said we were good.

"Safe..." I panted, a giggle squeezing itself in there.

"Yeah," she breathed right back, nodding, "we're good now."

"EYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The cackle turned my insides to ice. I glanced over at Marley with wide eyes, she turned her head in my direction, her skin looking flushed. Our spirits sank as we turned to face three grinning hyenas.

"Not quite" growled Shenzie, sending Ed on another bout of hysterical laughter.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Marley and I were taken to Scar by Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. As we were herded up to the cave in Pride Rock, the lionesses met us with expressions of pity. They knew where we were going, and why we were going there. What they didn't know, however, was whether they would see us again...alive.

"This whole being held hostage by the villains thing is really getting old." I mumbled to Marley.

"Hey! No talking!" yelled Banzai.

'Great,' I said to myself 'just like school.'

Just before entering the cave I stopped and stared out in the horizon. It was dark, dry, and desolate. Thunder rumbled in the sky. My friends were out there somewhere, maybe not in sight but they _were_ out there. I could feel it. _Run, _I thought,_ if you guys can see me run! Solve the riddle, get us out of here. _I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I jumped when I heard Shenzi bark.

"Keep it moving! You don't want to keep the _king_ waiting." she snickered and took a swipe at my legs.

I stumbled inside on Marley's heels. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness. The cave was fairly big , with a very small amount of sunlight streaming through the entrance. It stunk like mad too! The odor of what I'm guessing was rotten meat permeated from within. How the lionesses and cubs slept in there I'll never know. Most terrifying of all were the two glowing green eyes coming from the back of the cave. Scar. The name itself made me a little uneasy, but seeing the scrawny, cruel lion in front of me, however, put a new perspective of the word fear.

He just stared at us for a moment. A tense, wicked stare.

"Where did you find these two?" he asked the hyenas, his voice, opposite of his eyes, was languid.

"Out in the Pridelands. They were hidin' behind a rock." replied Banzai.

Scar just nodded, not taking his eyes off us, and continued.

"Tell me, what were they doing out there?"

"They...I don't know! They were tryin' to get that thing."

"_What _thing?" Scar snapped, finally facing his henchmen, his voice turning to hard rock.

"Just a thing! I don't know! The little one's got it behind her back."

Scar's gaze locked with mine. Crap.

My eyes went wide as he stalked slowly over to me. He was big, at least as tall as me on all fours, and his paws were massive. Up close his fur seemed to be a lot scragglier than in the movie, and his claws were sharpened to an impossible point.

"Give it to me!" he growled.

I swallowed. "Give what?" I said, trying to sound innocent, but in fact my voice was shaky and cracked. Yeah, I'll admit it, I was scared! And I'll bet my left shoe that you'd be too. Scar wasn't like the other villains we'd been captured by, he was big and had claws that could do some major damage.

"DON"T PLAY COY WITH ME!" he bellowed so loudly and suddenly even the three hyenas jumped. I flinched back and shut my eyes. "GIVE IT TO ME!"

I glanced over at Marley, unsure of what to do. She gave me a small, barely perceptible shake of the head. No, that message was clear, but what else could I do? I looked from Marley to Scar and back a few times before he screamed, "WELL?"

Thinking on my feet I asked "Y-you want it so bad?" I hesitated, "Take it!" With that I shot the MILD out and threw it clear across the cave. My poorly formed plan worked. All eight pair of animal eyes traced the path in the air leaving us unguarded. While they were distracted I grabbed Marley's wrist and we both tore outta that cave!

"What are you doing?" called Marley.

"Saving our skins! Screw the gadget!" was my answer.

The two of us barley made it to the outcropping of Priderock when we were tackled. Marley by Benzai, I by Shenzi, who grabbed me by my hair and dragged me back along with Marley.

"AIIIIEEEEEE! AAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH-OW!" I screamed with every ounce of energy I had left.

When we were dragged back to Scar, who was waiting just outside the cave, tears were welling in my eyes and I was biting my lip to keep from crying. I hated crying, especially in situations like this one. It made me feel weak. I hated them all of a sudden, a terrible, horrible feeling. I glared up at the dark lion through my tears. He gave me another chilling stare and looked away.

"Take them to the back and keep them there! I'll deal with those two later." ordered Scar.

Once again we were dragged mercilessly by the hyenas to the very back of the lair . About three fourths of the way there, we stopped because the henchmen got into an argument over something stupid. The grip on my hair loosened for a miraculous moment and I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't dare run. Not that I could, and as a quick look over at Marley proved, neither could she.

My eyes wandered and settled on the object right in front of me. The MILD! How random is that? They didn't even run after it! Quickly, I scooped it up and hid it in my pocket before the hyenas could notice.

I'd barely had time to pocket my prize when my hair became taught and we were being lugged around one more time.

Looking over a pile of rocks, Simba could see what was once his home over run by hyenas. His heart broke at the sight. How could he have let this happen? This place wasn't even a shadow of what it was under the reign of his father. The old watering hole was reduced to a dusty puddle, and it was apparent that the herds had moved on.

"SARABI!" he heard Scar call. His mother. Simba's heart skipped a beat. He focus every stitch of his attention on pride rock. If anything came after him at that moment, he'd be done for.

"So, is that where we're going?" someone whispered. He sprung up a foot or two and turned his head. It was none other than-

"You? Rikki what are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay with your friends."

Rikki shot him a look. "They've got it all under control. If anyone needs help its you."

Simba couldn't believe this. There he was, a fully grown two ton lion, stressing over how he'd manage to steal back the power that was rightfully his. And there she was, a hundred and some odd, half-grown human, thinking she could help him. He'd known her for only a little over a day, and already it was obvious that she was as stubborn as a rhino. "Forget it! This is something I have to do alone. Besides its too dangerous."

Rikki screwed up her face and put her hands on her hips, " Oh come on! Don't hit me with that 'dangerous' crap. I've had my fair share of tough situations, and here I am. Alive and kicking."

He didn't answer.

"Simba, you're not the only one who's got something at stake here! You heard the screams. My FRIENDS are in there! Being held captive by your psychopathic uncle, no doubt. Please." she begged in a low voice.

The lion softened up a bit. It looked as though he might have been weighing the situation. But he knew the dangers, and he wasn't going to subject such a delicate creature as a human to that. She was stubborn, and so was he. "No, look, I appreciate the help but this...you have to go back." He started off ahead of her.

"Alright fine." she quipped at his back, narrowing her eyes to slits, " I guess I'll have to just go back all alone. With NO ONE to protect me in case a, I don't know, _hyena_ decides to show up."

Simba stopped. She was right. He was in a stalemate, if the girl came along she might get hurt. On the other hand if she went back alone, she will. He sighed and turned to face her.

"Alright, you can come. Just...stay close to me."

"Aye-aye sir!" She beamed and jogged up behind him.

Cameryn and Anya ran alongside Nala and the other lionesses. While Timon and Pumbaa distracted the hyenas, they had snuck passed and gathered up the pride. Most were all too eager to join in the uprising.

"How much further?" Cameryn yelled to Nala.

"Not much now. We have to get to the top of the outcropping. Can you handle it ?" Nala asked, still running.

Cameryn looked up and saw the steepness of the path. She was silent for a moment, judging the angle.

"I think I can. Anya," she called behind her, " how 'bout you?"

Anya, who was keeping a decent pace, yet was still a few feet behind Cameryn, didn't skip a beat. "Don't worry about me! I'll make it."

"Well," Cameryn turned back to Nala, " there you have it."

Nala nodded and pressed the lionesses on. If Simba's plan was going to work they had to hurry up.

The group continued on, up the side ramp to the lair's entrance. Cameryn stayed well with the animals while Anya was having a little bit of trouble.

"You OK back there?" asked Cam, after looking back for the third time.

Anya nodded and sped up as much as she could. She didn't want to waste any energy on words.

"Here, you can ride on my back." offered a lioness, whom Cameryn quickly recognized as Sarafina.

She stooped down allowing Anya to climb on her back. The second she was seated the lioness took off again at full speed catching up with the others.

"WOOOHOOOO!" Anya cried, having the time of her life riding Sarafina. She couldn't believe this! Never in her life did she think she'd ever ride a lion. A lion! Underneath her, she should feel the ground thumping beneath the powerful paws. Wind whipped up passed her face and streamed out her hair, giving the illusion that her head was alight with fire. She was the picture of freedom.

Soon, they made it to the entrance and Anya, with slight disappointment, disembarked.

"Thank you." she whispered hastily to the lion.

They got to the scene in the nick of time. Simba had his uncle cornered against a stone wall, with Rikki flanking him a yard and a half away.

"The choice is yours Scar," began Simba "you either step down or fight."

"Oh, must this all end in violence?" mused Scar dramatically "I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a family member. Wouldn't you agree Simba?"

"Thats not going to work, I've put it behind me." he responded.

"Ah!," hissed Scar "But what about your loyal subjects? Have _they _put it behind _them?"_

Nala was confused. Put what behind them?

"Simba, what is he talking about?" she asked impatiently.

"Ah!," exclaimed Scar, delighted, "So you _didn't _tell them your little secret. Well, here's your chance to tell them who's responsible for Mufasa's death."

At the word 'death', the lionesses perked up. Rikki winced, Cameryn balled up her hands in fists, and Anya couldn't watch.

Simba hesitated a moment before stepping up. "I am" he admitted.

There was a shocked silence that impacted everyone heavily.

Sarabi was devistated by the news. Simba, her Simba, was responsible? It couldn't be! He was just a cub at the time, there was no way this could be possible. She walked up to her son.

"Its not true," she whispered "tell me it's not true!"

Simba looked down to the ground, at his paws. The same way he used to when he'd get in trouble with his parents as a cub.

"It is." he murmured.

"You see! He admits it! Murderer!" accused Scar.

"No! It was an accident!" panicked Simba as Scar began to pace around him, fast and menacingly. Rikki watched, her jaw set firm.

"If it wasn't for you Mufasa would still be alive. It's your fault he's dead, do you deny it?" he barked.

"No,"admitted Simba.

"Then your guilty!"

"No! I'm not a murderer!" he yelled fiercely.

Rikki couldn't take this anymore. She marched up to where the two lions were, seething, "You dirty, flea-bitten... You're no king! You're nothing but a kitten that has to hide behind manipulation and deceit! Oof!" Scar silenced her with a hard paw to the gut. She crumpled on the ground, feeling sick.

"No." Simba whispered, at seeing his friend hurt.

Scar returned his attention to his nephew, backing him up to the edge of Pride rock, flanked by a horde of hyenas.

"Oh, Simba, you're in trouble again. But I've got news for you: daddy isn't here to save you."

At the conclusion of his sentence, a lightning bolt struck the dead grass under the outcropping, setting it on fire. There, Simba slipped and barely hung on with his fore paws.

"SIMBA!" cried Nala and Rikki in unison.

There he clung to both the rock and to dear life. Looking up, frightened, at his cruel uncle who loomed over him.

"Now where have I seen this before, ah yes! This is how your father looked before he died." quick as a flash his claws were out and piercing Simba's paws. He lowered himself to the younger lion's ear, "And here's my little secret: I killed Mufasa."

Simba's face grew wide in realization, and slowly morphed into rage. In a single moment, he relived the events he had fought so hard to keep hidden within himself.

"NOOOO!" he pounced and pinned the other lion to the ground. "Murderer! Tell them the truth."

He strangled his uncled "So they can hear you."

"I killed Mufasa!" admitted the scrawny lion, his voice harsh and spiteful.

As the words left his mouth, the lionesses ran leaving Cameryn and Anya bewildered in the dust.

Unsure of what to do, they rushed over to Rikki who was still doubled over in pain. They checked her stomach, there wasn't a wound but there was an ugly bruise. Her friends looked at her with concern.

She rose slowly, "I'm fine, really. They need our help." and with that she staggered into the fray.

"Oh,no! WE'LL help. You are in no condition to fight this way!" scolded Anya holding her back.

"But-"

"No Rikki. You wanna help? Get Kori and Marley, but until you can walk upright you are not fighting."

Rikki glared at them, a stony glare, but she ultimately turned around and headed into the lair.

The other two girls gathered up stones and climbed up a high boulder, raining the rocks on the hyenas.

It was painful, we were trapped in the back of the lions den behind giant elephant bones in sight of everything that went on. We wanted to help, but we were incapacitated.

The anxiety was reaching its peak when we saw a figure, a human figure, enter the cave.

As it got closer it became apparent who it was.

"Rikki! Get us out of here!" ordered Marley

"If I knew how..." she mumbled looking around.

We tried prying loose a rib, breaking one with a stone, ramming it, nothing worked. It was completely-

"Let me out, let me out!" cried Zazu from further up in the cave.

"Let me in, let me in!" answered Timon.

Shoot. The hyenas were back. I hated those three. Well those two technically. Ed was too stupid to be evil, so I just peg him as annoying.

"Please don't eat me." he begged.

"Hey!" we all turned our gaze to the entrance yet again.

"Who's the pig?" asked Banzai.

"Are you talking to me?"

Despite my fear and desperation I thoroughly enjoyed that part and so did Marley. We literally doubled over in laughter.

I won't go into too much detail on just what happened in that cave but i'll tell you this: Pumbaa was the one who managed to free us using...well you don't want to know, but it smelled worse than the meat.

Victoriously, we emerged from the lair with Timon, Pumbaa, and Zazu.

"YEAH! You better run!" Marley called after the hyenas, making us all laugh.

As it died down, I looked at everyone. Then, I noticed we were one person short.

"Guys, where's Rikki?"

We swivled our heads searching for her but it was Zazu who found her.

"There! Running after Simba!" he called.

"Who is?"

We turned to see Anya and Cameryn jogging up to us.

"Rikki," I answered, "she going after Simba."

"No! She's hurt, we have to stop her." yelled Cameryn.

Our group took off after them and reached the peak while the lions were fighting all of us, including Rikki, stood there in awe. It was a truly terrific thing to see. One thing is to watch it happen in the movie, another was to be right there, hearing the snarls and feeling the intensity of the fight, as well as the flames. There was slashing and biting and clawing and blood. Finally, horribly, we watched as Scar butted Simba down and pinned him. Raising a claw, Scar was going to run him through.

"This can't be happening!" breathed Marley.

Scar swung. Right before the fatal impact, everything went slow motion.

"Simba!" yelled Rikki, and before we could stop her she did the unthinkable. Rikki took off at full speed and rammed Scar like a linebacker, just as his claw came down.

"AAAAGH!" she winced with pain as she flew through the air, connecting with Scar's abdomen.

The lion tipped a bit off balance, barely effected, while Rikki flipped over, bounced once and skidded to a stop a yard away. She was bleeding, from where we couldn't tell, but she was alive.

"You," growled Scar getting up on his four legs "This is the last time you interfere with me!"

She looked up at him with waning determination and increasing terror as he pounced to crush her. In one last act of defiance, she met his gaze, equally as wicked as his, and said, "You'll NEVER be ANYWHERE near the lion Mufasa was." Scars eyes lit up like a mad man's and he made straight for her.

"RIKKI!" we all screamed wide-eyed and helpless.

It looked like the end. Our friend was going to die in one last act of bravery. Out of complete selflessness she went in there, and now she was going to be ripped to shreds and die a hero and there was nothing I could do about it.

Then the miraculous happened. Simba dashed to his feet and got Scar from the side, sending him over the edge and to his death at the hands of the hyenas.

"She's going to be just fine." assured Rafiki "All she needs is some rest."

We heaved a sigh of relief. It was the day after the battle and the first thing we had done was take her to the shaman to get her treated. Scar's claw had hit her leaving three nasty red strips across her back. Thankfully he didn't hit anything important.

"Thank you, Rafiki." Anya sighed gratefully.

The next few days passed slowly. We found ways to help around the pride. Anya spent her time taking care of the cubs while the lionesses went hunting. Cameryn helped drag the kill back to Pride rock, the lionesses having deemed her worthy because of her opposable thumbs. Marley helped Timon and Pumbaa get settled into the Pridelands, to Timon's suggestion they got themselves a separate little cove just off the rock formation to relieve any temptation. I helped Rafiki gather herbs for his medicines. Rikki eventually got better and spent most of her time with Simba who was busy making peace with the abused animals and driving out the straggling hyenas.

It was a time of peace and recovery. We ate with the lions, played along the grasslands that were already on the road to health, swam in the watering hole and rested up. The best thing though was my ability to sleep till noon and no one could say anything about it. But all good things must come to an end, we had to move on and not to mention actually think about the riddle. So there we were laying in the warm sun when our MILDs beeped.

Cameryn was the first to answer. It was Mickey Mouse, who else?

"Hey Mickey." she yawned.

"Hiya, girls!" he greeted cheerfully, "I've got great news! We fixed the teleportation and communication systems this mornin'. As soon as you find the item we'll get ya on your way."

"Thats great." said Rikki masking disappointment. We could all tell she absolutely loved it here and she and Simba had a developed a deep connection with each other. We would often find them running and playing a weird lionized version of tag, or just laying outside at night and looking at the stars.

"Say, I gotta go now but we'll get you guys outta there. See ya real soon!"he squealed and signed off.

We sat there in silence soaking up the news.

"Well," said Rikki breaking the silence, "lets get going then."

Before we could ask where she was headed she was well out of earshot. Deciding to follow we ran after her, and ran, and ran.

Finally, we reached Priderock where Rafiki was talking to Nala and Simba.

"Ah, if it isn't the little fighter!" noted Rafifki happily.

"Hey," she greeted, smiling, but her voice betrayed her emotion, "I gotta ask you something."

He looked at her expectantly as she hesitated. She took a look at the two lions, then at the ground, then back to the baboon. Sighing heavily she asked "Can...can I have your stick?"

"My stick?" he asked looking at said stick. "What for?"

The stick. Of course. The most obvious answer yet, it was the ONLY object in the movie.

"It's the only way we can get home." I explained "or at least closer to it."

Rafiki looked at the stick and thought.

"OK. _Because I like you_," he declared "I'll give you the stick."

He handed Rikki the stick and she gave a small smile. "Take good care of it now!"

"Don't worry, I will." she murmured, as her fingers closed around his staff.

Our gadgets beeped and Rikki's shot out a ray of light shrinking it. They beeped again, about to send us on our way when she yelled, "Wait!"

Rikki dropped her MILD, ran over to Simba, and gave him a squeeze. He seemed startled for a moment but returned it with a warm smile. While she still denies, the moment she felt his paw around her, she let out a loud, shuddering sob. She didn't let go for a good few minutes and when she finally did we saw tears staining her face.

"Hey, you'll be Ok," soothed Simba "Hakuna Matata."

Rikki let out a small chuckle and wiped her eyes.

"I'll miss you Simba." she said.

"You too" he answered and gave her a pat on the back.

She hurried back to us and our MILDs beeped again. Just as the teleporting started up, I caught Rikki looking back at the characters and giving them a bleary eyed smile and a small wave good-bye.


	11. Chapter 11!

**Chapter 11**

_Splash!_ A wall of water slammed us and stung like a hundred fire ants. I felt groggy and semi-conscious, my eyes half closed. Bubbles and foam rushed up past us as we sank down to the sandy bottom. The lower we went, the more we felt the water pressure. Our descent slowed and we gently landed on a soft bed of sponge.

I was barely able to open my eyes because of the saltiness of the water. After a short struggle, my eyelids peeled open and I saw for the first time where we were. It was bright and blue, with seaweed dancing slowly from left to right. Schools of fish sped past us in a swirl of bubbles. I lay there in amazement just watching the peaceful scene play out. It was beautiful but I couldn't just sit there forever. Pushing myself up on my arms , I bent my legs to stand when I noticed something weird. They felt tight, like they were wrapped up in a cast. A giant, flexible cast.

I looked down to see what was up, and got the surprise of a lifetime! Instead of two skinny legs, I saw a beautiful Ruby colored tail. I gasped, with both shock and, heck lets face it, delight! My tail was about six inches longer than my legs and glistened in the water. I tried it out and found that it was pretty powerful. Until that moment I hadn't considered how I was able to breathe. Smiling inwardly, I decided to have some fun with it. I started off going as fast as I could, then turned a couple of loops. This was so much fun! I couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, looks like we found Kori." said a sarcastic Cameryn.

I whirled, slightly embarrassed, towards the other girls, unable to keep the grin off my face. They all had fins too. Cameryn's was a dazzling turquoise, Marley's was a super bright shade of green while Rikki's was a dark blue. Anya's tail was a soft purple.

"Having fun?" She teased.

"Well, y'know, I thought I'd figure out how to work this thing." I stuttered.

Cam cast me a not-buying-it look.

"Whatever."

Just then our M.I.L.D.s beeped.

"Wow, how are these things not water logged?" joked Rikki.

The screen read:

Welcome to The Little Mermaid! Your riddle is:

_In the depths where darkness lurks_

_Is the item for which you search._

_In the gloom it does abide_

_With dreamer's song-voice trapped inside._

"That's a pretty _fishy_ riddle!" joked Marley. We all groaned. It figures. She couldn't resist, the temptation of a corny pun was just too great.

"Well, we gotta find some place gloomy." said Anya, trying to get us back on track, "Cause it says 'in the gloom it does abide.'"

"That makes sense..." Rikki looked around a little, "So, where is it gloomy around here?"

"Right now, I don't know. But we should hook up with some characters soon," I suggested, "After all this is the ocean, you don't know what might have it's eye on you..."

And I was thinking of more than just sharks.

"Agreed." said Anya.

So with a flick of our tails, the five of us started off on another of a series of journeys. We swam for a good while, our powerful tails propelling us through the salty waters. The current was with us, which helped. It was one of the few things that really was going our way. Before too long, we came to a large colorful clearing and we sat on the soft sand for a short break.

"Ok, which way do we go now?" asked Rikki, stretching out.

"Forward." muttered Cameryn.

"Funny." replied Rikki flatly.

I quickly got bored of the conversation. Being in a place like this it was a pretty easy to drift off. My gaze moved over the clearing. It was sandy with an oddly shaped rock covered in yellow sea flowers nearby. The middle was a wide expanse with a small sandy ring around the center. It looked a little bit like a circus ring...or a sunken orchestra stage...

"Guys!" I swam up suddenly, spooking my friends enough to make them jump.

"What?" asked Marley.

"I know where we are! We-" I was interrupted by a musical voice chanting "he loves me, he loves me not."

Our heads moved towards the flowery rock and found Ariel, laying on top, plucking the petals off a flower. A nervous Sebastian was pacing under her, muttering and waving his claws around. It occurred to me we landed during the song "Under the Sea". My personal favorite. And it was starting.

"Ariel listen to me,

The human world is a mess.

life under the sea is better than anything they got up there!"

_The seaweed is always greener, in somebody else's lake_

_You dream about going up there, but that is a big mistake._

_Just look at the world around you, right here on the ocean floor_

_Such wonderful things around you_

_What more is you looking for?_

I couldn't resist. Before my friends could stop me I swam up and joined in on the chorus.

_K: Under the sea!_

Sebastian gave me a confused look, as if asking "Where did you come form?" but kept singing.

_S: Under the sea!_

_K+S;Darling its better down where its wetter_

_K:Take it from me!_

_S: up on the shore they work all day,_

_K: out in the sun we slave away._

_S: while we devotin' full time to floating Under the sea!_

It went on like that for most of the song. Slowly but surely Sebastian grew comfortable singing a duet, to the point of smiling! As the song progressed the singing led to dancing, the one thing I am absolutely terrible at. I once glanced over at my friends who were pointing and laughing, but I knew thy weren't making fun. I think. But sadly, this couldn't go on forever. Swimming close to my friends, I was going to tell them to keep an eye out for Flounder, but found I didn't have to. Just as I reached them, Marley saw the roly-poly fish amble up to Ariel and whisper something in her ear. We lost no time. The moment she got up to leave, we were right behind her.

"Oh, Flounder!" cried Ariel, "It looks just like him! It even has his eyes!"

"So is this the guy?" Anya asked, looking over the Eric statue.

"Yes," she answered, "Isn't he handsome?"

On the way we had introduced ourselves and told her bits and pieces of our story. The whole way, she listened with eager ears. Having been interested mostly by the fact that we were human. She even went as far as asking how we changed. When we told her we didn't know, she sagged a little but continued to listen.

Ariel twirled around and faced the statue. She was lost to the world.

"Oh, Eric! Runaway with you? This is all so-so sudden!"

She giggled and twirled some more. She did at least ten 360s before she ( and us for that matter) spotted her father, King Triton, standing at the entrance of the grotto with an angry look on his face. Not a good sign. At the sight of him the five of us scattered, along with Flounder, and hid behind various treasures.

"I consider myself a fair merman." he muttered.

Then the yelling began.

" ...Spineless, savage, fish eaters, incapable of any feeling-!" The volume made me jump. This was worse than when my parents yelled at me. It was border lining abusive.

"Daddy, I love him!" came Ariel's cry.

I winced.

"No, he's a human, you're a mermaid!"

"I don't care."

That's when the blasting started. It was terrifying. Enough to make me fear for my life. With every blast of energy, my muscles got tighter and tighter. Things were smashed everywhere. A globe shattered, the dancing music box was crushed, a treasure chest exploded, the candelabra was blasted to bits, causing Rikki to duck for another hiding spot. One by one Ariel's treasures were destroyed. Finally, King Triton's gaze fell on the statue of Prince Eric. With a passionate fury he swept up his trident and aimed it right at the statue.

"DADDY! NO!" Ariel screamed.

It was too late, a bolt escaped the trident and struck the statue with a force so strong I had to duck behind my rock.

With the destruction of the statue came the end of the King's rage. Ariel sank down onto the floor and began to cry. The king's expression softened momentarily as he left the grotto, but he kept going. Once we were sure he was gone we each crept out from our hiding places.

Sebastian tried to comfort Ariel, but she was too upset to hear it. "Just go away."

The statement hit a nerve in the crab. With a glum Flounder he left the cave.

"C'mon guys," said Anya, "we should go."

"Man, that was harsh." exclaimed Marley.

We all mumbled our agreements. The experience left us all a bit shell-shocked. We were sitting on an underwater cliff a little ways off of the grotto.

"Well, now that we have nothing to do, maybe we should focus on the riddle..." said Rikki.

I stayed quiet as the others discussed. I never liked this part of the movie, when she gets yelled at. It left her shattered! No wonder she fell for the sea witch's scam...wait...the witch. My eyes doubled in size.

"Um, guys," I butted in, "I think I figured this thing out."

I didn't like where this was going. Not one bit...

Ok, so this chapter didn't change too much, but chapters 12 and 13 WILL. In a major way. It will affect the rest of the story so please read them! Or else you won't understand why something's changed so suddenly. If you're just starting this, then don't worry. Just keep reading. This is only for people who have already read these chapters. Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own disney, scene it, or the movies. Just my five characters and the invention.**

**As I mentioned at the end of the last chapter, if you've been with this story for a while, PLEASE REREAD THIS CHAPTER! its important that you do! Even if it's just the last section. Any ways, onward!**

Chapter 12:

We caught up with Flounder and Sebastian who were following Ariel to the lair. As we got closer the surroundings became darker and deader. We passed fields of miniature underwater volcanoes, one of which nearly burst in Cameryn's face! Luckily she reeled back just in time. We continued to swim through the dead area of the sea.

Our little group reached the witch's lair just as Ariel passed through it's giant jaw. I gulped. One thing was to see this place in the movie where its just a little picture but to be there in person was completely different! This place was massive and eerie, the bones of a dead sea monster threatening to swallow us whole. I couldn't help but shrink back just a bit. In short, it wasn't exactly welcoming.

"So,"said Marley her voice cracking, "We goin' in there?"

"Yep." I answered.

"Into the spooky cave," she continued "were there's the possibility of never seeing the light of day ever again?"

"WHAT?" squeaked Flounder, growing even paler than he was before.

"Marley! Stop that! Flounder's nervous enough as it is." scolded Cameryn, referring more to herself than to Flounder.

"Hush!" whispered Sebastian "Ariel is in dere! we gotta see if we can talk some sense into de girl!"

We obediently shut up and followed the crab in. The tunnel was considerably long and lined from floor to ceiling with wriggling green-grey creatures. They were pleading at us with wide yellow eyes. Although unable to talk, their warning was clear: turn back before it's too late. I stayed close to my friends. We were getting close enough to see flashes of color from Ursula's spells when a polyp sprang up and wrapped around my tail!

I bit back a scream. Or at least I tried. It came out like a squeaky hiccup. My friends turned back.

"Kori, what's wrong?" asked Rikki, her face the very definition of impatience.

I opened my mouth and found that I had lost my ability to speak so I resorted to mouthing HELP ME and pointing at the creature.

Rikki sighed and swam back, freeing me with her bare hands. I shivered as did she, even though she tried to hide it.

"H-honestly, y-you can b-be such a w-wi-wimp sometimes!"

Ignoring her comment, I kept on swimming tentatively. The farther we went the harder it got as fear got a hold of us. We slowed our pace until it felt as if we were swimming through molasses. This must be the feeling a condemned criminal has walking to their death sentence.

To our dismay, we arrived. By this time we were all shaking uncontrollably, watching the scene unfold. The witch was explaining her "plan" to Ariel. I wanted nothing more than to go in there, grab the mermaid, and leave, but I was rooted with fear. And besides, we had a reason for being there.

"ARIEL!" screamed Sebastian but he was quickly subdued. Ursula's minions acted swiftly, scaring the living daylights out of us. We screamed and swam back ten feet. The evil little eels, for some reason being the only ones who saw our reaction, snickered at us. Rikki and I some how found the guts to glare back in annoyance.

"I REALLY hate those guys!" spat Anya bitterly.

"Agreed." I answered as we got back to the entrance. The five of us attempted to free Sebastian and Flounder but those two suckers knew how to put up a fight! Every time we got near they'd snap at us with razor sharp teeth. We kept at it with no luck.

_BOOM!_An explosion rattled the cave and captured our attention. We peeked into the lair and saw that the witch had gone to work creating the potion.

"Dang it!" snapped Rikki, "How are we gonna get it now, huh?"

Rikki was right, it was impossible to get the object now! The force of the explosions would keep knocking us back and slamming us against the wall. What felt like gusts of ocean current kept us at bay. It didn't matter how hard we tried we couldn't get close enough to it. We all gave one final effort to get to it, swimming as one we sped forward only to be thrown back once more by a strong current.

_Ah Ah Ah..._

Ariel began to sing and Ursula's eyes began to spiral maniacally. We watched in horror as two enormous green hands came forward and into Ariel's throat, extracting her sweet sound. There was another flash and Ariel was enveloped in a golden bubble, trying to escape. I buried my face in my hands unable to watch anymore.

_Bam!_There was yet another explosion rocked the cave, and there was Ariel struggling for air. Without even looking to see if my friends were behind me I burst forward and grabbed her by the arm. Along with Sebastian and Flounder, we sped towards the surface, but it felt like it was taking forever. Then, before I thought she couldn't hang on any longer we burst through and headed to shore.

"Ahhhhhh..." Cameryn sighed, sinking further into a hot tub brimming with bubbles. "Now this is the life!"

It had been a few hours since Prince Eric found us on shore and we found ourselves in the palace's guest bathroom. No, calling that place a bathroom is a crying shame. It was more like a spa in a five-star hotel!

Confused? Don't be. When we reached shore our MILDs were quick to transform us back into our human selves. (Much to my disappointment...and Ariel's surprise.)

"Yeah, I know." Anya agreed.

" I guess. OW!" I winced as a maid began hacking at the impossible tangles in my curly mane. It felt like she was trying to yank back my scalp!

"Dear, me!" she gasped as she struggled to pull the comb through my wet hair, "When was the last time your hair saw a comb?"

I laughed bitterly "Ma'am, when you've been through what we have, personal hygiene isn't much of a priority."

A sheepish look crossed her face and she answered "I beg your pardon, miss."

See, we all agreed on a story saying that we were recently shipwrecked in a violent storm. Heck, it's not like we could say anything else. The only problem came when they asked us where we were from. To which Marley prompted us to fake selective amnesia. It worked too! So now we were sitting in the lap of luxury. Nothing could ruin this!

After the maids made sure that the six of us were thoroughly groomed from head to toe they brought in new clothes, our sea-soaked ones were tossed in the laundry.

"A DRESS? Aww, man!"groaned Rikki. We all laughed and even Ariel gave a silent giggle.

Shoot. I guess something COULD ruin this...

I trudged over to the one specified for me and held it up. It was pretty, i'll give it that much. It was a beautiful combination of purple and blue silk with a hint of silver here and there. I'm happy to report that it didn't have too much lace and I thanked God in heaven that it did not have any puffed sleeves! But that thing was still heavy.

After putting it on I swished the skirt a little bit. 'Well,' I said to myself 'it could have been worse.'

I looked at my friends and found that they too were satisfied. Except for Rikki who did nothing but glower all the way to dinner.

The rest of the day passed quickly. Basically, as soon as dinner ended there was a quick tour of the palace and we were dropped off in our quarters. The five of us shared one room while Ariel got her own. It was decided that we would all take a tour of the kingdom the next day.

"Guys," Anya hummed laying awake in her bed.

"Yeah?" yawned Marley.

"How do you think we'll get the thing now?"

We were all quiet until Rikki said, " We just take the thing. And if this is about the fins the MILDs will probably change us back."

"No, thats not what I meant..."

Realization snuck up on me and pounced my brain.

"Oh, you mean because of -." I answered just above a whisper.

"Exactly."she murmured.

Now I could see why it was a problem. The object couldn't be taken just like that. It played a MAJOR role like the lamp did in Aladdin.

"I don't know, but I think we should wait until morning. I'm exhausted." grumbled Cameryn.

"I guess she's right..." I sighed "we'll probably get an idea by morning."

I turned in my bed and pulled up the covers. I had so much on my mind. How would we get it? The answer to that was pretty obvious. We couldn't. Or could we? An idea was taking shape in my mind, but was it too risky? I huffed. We were desperate and this was the only way to make sure everybody wins. Snuggling deep in my sheets I cuddled my pillow and drifted off. It was decided, we had no choice but to change the story. If we could help it, Ariel was going to get that kiss! We had to make it happen ourselves.

The hours of the night ticked on as the group of shipwrecked maidens slept. That is, all but one. Having woken up in the middle of a troubled dream, she lay awake listening to the cadence of her friend's breathing. But only for a moment.

You see, this girl had something she had to do. And none of others could know. If they found out, they would never let her live it down; one of them in particular she had in mind.

As the others slept, she silently left her bed, grabbed her gadget, and snuck out through the castle, careful not to be spotted. Finally, she found her way to the shore. For a moment she watched the tide roll in and out. Then, before she could talk herself out of it, she dove into the waves. It took only a moment for a mermaid's tail to form where her legs had been. As soon as she was sure of this, she swam off in the direction of the sea witch's lair.

Under different circumstances she would never do anything like what she was about to do. But she knew how this story ended, and if they were going to get home, they couldn't afford to be considerate.

Finally, she reached the dreaded place. With a gulp and a glance back, she shut her eyes and swam through the massive jaws.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

I awoke the next morning to blinding sunlight and the call of gulls. For a moment, I lay on the mattress absorbed in my own thoughts, praying that everything would go well. It wasn't until I heard my friends stirring that I sat up. After spending several nights sleeping on hard floors and straw mats in the previous movies, they all looked like they had the best sleep in ages. I even saw what looked like a wet drool stain on Cameryn's pillow. After stretching some and making sure that we were fully awake, we came up with a plan. Instead of going on the tour with Ariel and the Prince, we decided we'd follow them on our own terms. When Carlotta came in to the room, we had Cameryn fake sick and insisted we couldn't leave our friend alone. She nodded and told us she'd tell the prince and his guest that they'd be going alone. The moment we were sure she'd left us for good, we sprang out of bed, changed and made our way to the village.

We trailed Ariel and Eric the whole day, keeping out of sight. About halfway through, we caught up with Flounder, Sebastian, and Scuttle. We swapped stories, not that we had anything new to report. Both of our groups confirmed that there was indeed no kiss. Deciding to combine our efforts, we stalked the couple until the day led them to a private, shallow bay. We sat back amongst the reeds, our gadgets having turned us back into mermaids.

"Anything yet?" whispered Rikki up at Scuttle.

"Nothing is happening!" groaned the seabird.

"This is madness." she mumbled.

"Madness? Only one day left and that boy ain't puckered up once!" he sighed, then puffed up his feathers. "Alright, I think it's time for a little vocal, romantic stimulation!" Scuttle flew up to a low hanging branch and cleared his throat. Out came a sound that made us all cover our ears!

"WAHAHAHAHAH!" he screeched.

Cameryn ducked underwater.

"Um, maybe its time you worked your magic." Anya suggested, leaning close to Sebastian who, like us, held his head with his claws, "If you know what I mean..."

He nodded in vehement agreement. "You want something done you've got to do it yourself."

He swam off and I'm pretty sure I saw Anya follow him under. Having come back up to the surface after the initial shock of Scuttle's vocal chords, Cameryn looked in the direction Anya went and shook her head. "It figures," she said, turning to me, an amused smile on her face, "she is such a romantic. Probably went down to help."

I nodded, mirroring her smile.

Moments later, they resurfaced and got the beginnings of a nice soft love song going. Sebastian, perched on the end of a cattail, crooned as he lowered himself to the Prince's ear.

_There you see her, sitting there across the way._

_She don't got a lot to say but there's something about her_

_And you don't know why but you're dyin' to try_

_you wanna kiss the girl._

_Whoosh!_ Just as Eric turned his head Anya snatched up the cattail.

Confused, the prince asked Ariel "Did you hear something?" The mermaid just shrugged and smiled.

_Sha-la-la-la-la-la my oh my_

_looks like the boys too shy_

_ain't gonna kiss the girl_

_sha-la-la-la-la ain't that sad_

_ain't it a shame too bad_

_you're gonna miss the girl_

As the song continued, we swam just under the boat doing everything we could to help the mood along. While Eric was trying to guess Ariel's name, Rikki and Marley quietly got rid of the oars. At Sebastian's cue Cameryn, Rikki, Marley, and I pushed the boat into a small pool hidden in willow branches. Once there, Anya swam to my side.

"Ok, this is it! We gotta pull out all the stops!" she exclaimed in a whisper.

She really meant all the stops. While Sebastian sang Anya divided us into groups. Rikki and Marley, Cameryn and me. Rikki and Marley went off to get a bunch of the fish with Sebastian to spin the row boat, leaving Anya, Cameryn, and I to shoo a group of lightning bugs around the couple. The sight was beautiful, almost magical. The sparkling look of love was clear on both of their faces.

Resuming our hiding place behind a thick cluster of reeds, Anya, Cameryn, and I watched and waited. A few minutes later, we were joined by Rikki and Marley, their heads breaking through the surface of the water.

"How's it going?" Marley asked, water streaming down her face.

Anya answered, not taking her eyes off the small boat, "Couldn't be better! These two'll be kissing in no time!"

As the others watched the scene above, one of the girls slipped silently and unnoticed under the surface. She felt horrible about what had to happen, especially after all the hard work her friends just went through. But she couldn't back out now. A deal was a deal after all.

She glided over to a dark corner of the water and signaled to the golden eyes glowing through the gloom. The only part of the two henchmen that was visible. The eyes blinked, almost as if they belonged to the same person, and the eels swam forward.

The girl shrank back and whispered, "There. Just like I told you. If you're still going to do this, get it over with. I can't watch."

One of the eels smirked and looked at his companion, "So it is. Looks like she's more useful-"

"-Than we thought." The other finished, and as one they swam up to the under side of the boat, leaving the girl to return to her friends feeling much worse than she had already. She couldn't show it. The less her friends knew, the better. With one last breath to compose herself, she resurfaced silently. She was relieved to find that none of the others had noticed her absence. They were all too wrapped up in their handiwork. She only wished that she could be happy with hers.

_SPLASH!_ At the last possible second before the two could kiss, the boat tipped over, ruining the perfect plan. Anya's eyes wandered then, rested on two shady figures by the boat. Flotsam and Jetsam swam there just above the surface, cackling and slapping tails.

"Did I mention how much I hate those two?" Anya seethed through gritted teeth.

She started at them, full speed until Marley and Cameryn held her back.

"Let 'em go, Anya," Rikki said, patting her shoulder, "It's not worth it."

Anya's purple fin went slack. I had never seen her look so disappointed. "Yeah," she sighed, "I guess."

"C'mon," I mumbled, "We should probably get back to the castle."

"ARIEL!" came the squawked call from just outside the window as Scuttle swooped by. My eyes fluttered open. I somehow got to sleep last night. When, I wasn't too sure, but now I was waking up disoriented.

"Ugh, what was that?" groaned Cameryn.

"Aw, just Scuttle, about to tell Ariel she's getting married." Anya clarified.

"Oh."

A few moments passed after that, the five of us stretched calmly but I couldn't shake the feeling that we were forgetting something. That's when-

"Wait a minute." All five of us flushed pale at the realization of exactly what we just heard. In a flash we were all running like psychos to Ariel's bedroom. The moment we skidded to her door it opened and revealed an ecstatic redhead.

"Oh, Hey!" burst Marley, "There you are! Lets, um, go get some breakfast!"

Ariel only smiled and hugged her. It killed me, she was completely oblivious to what was coming.

She ended the embrace and began rushing off, until we stepped in her way again. _If we could just prolong this... let her down easy..._but it was clear she was not going to let it happen.

She giggled and tried walking towards the stairs again.

"A-are you sure?" stammered Marley once again blocking her path, "Maybe it would be best if-"

Ariel was starting to look impatient and shook her head. Using her hands she motioned towards the stairs. Her silent way of saying 'No,no,no. I have to see the prince!' This time, before we could react she dashed down the steps.

"No, Ariel, wait." called Anya desperately.

Yet again, it was too late. The minute she turned the corner she caught sight of the "other woman." The look of devastation that trampled her features was unmistakable. Inching to her I lay a hand on her shoulder, her head came up. Understanding dawned on her.

"We didn't want you to find out like this."

She only nodded and ran off without a sound.

We spent the afternoon both spying on the 'bride' and trying to comfort Ariel. The preparations for the wedding went by swiftly, people running to and fro carrying flowers, piles of invitations. Measuring tape, fabric, curtains, silverware, everything but the kitchen sink went through those halls. All the while Ariel was completely ignored.

The hours flew by and before we knew it, we were standing on the docks watching servants load the ship with a few final guests.

"This is so wrong!" vented Rikki pacing up and down the dock. It was getting on my nerves.

"You're tellin' me." sobbed Flounder, his head bobbing out of the water below.

Sebastian was drumming his legs and snapping his claws nervously, mumbling something about the king and crab cakes. Ariel only cried harder into Cameryn's shoulder. Her hurt got to me.

"Guys, not now." Soothed Anya.

The desperation of this whole mess was gnawing at me; my feelings were a jumbled mess in my stomach.

Luckily, it seemed Marley had sorted her's out just fine.  
"NO! Ariel did everything by the book! She kept her end of the deal and now because of some stupid, ugly, grudge holding witch she has to suffer? It's wrong. Rotten, horrid, terrible, cheap, and just plain bad! We get it. But we're just sitting here taking it! Sittin' in our own self pity instead of doing something about it." She turned her back on us and glared at the ocean, "Well, not for much longer. Huddle up, people. I got a plan."

Minutes later the plan was in action. From where I stood I could see Rikki swimming with Ariel and Flounder towards the ship.

Where was I standing you ask? Well, Marley, Anya, and I were standing in enemy territory. That's right, we were inside 'Vanessa's' dressing room, and I was beyond nervous. The three of us had snuck onto the ship at the very last nanosecond and posed as bridesmaids. Meanwhile, Cameryn and Rikki turned back into mermaids to help out Ariel and Scuttle.

"Ok, so how're we gonna stall this thing from here?" Anya whispered.

"Well..." I answered.

"'Well'? That's all?" she winced back.

"Yeah-yeah...it is. I just don't know where we go from here..."

Anya struck her head with a palm muttering something about high school and the American standards of education.

In the meantime, Marley was actually making herself useful and looking around the room for inspiration.

"Guys! I got it!" she breathed and produced a pair of sharp scissors from a pile of sowing materials near the wedding gown.

"Marley, we can't kill her." I replied flatly.

"NO! Just-just follow my lead."

Marley proceeded to walk towards the dress and started snipping away, bit by bit, at the material. Anya and I looked at each other and slowly mischievous grins spread across our faces. Armed with scissors of our own, we joined in.

"Is that cutting I hear?" came a the Witch's question. We froze, it was incredible how a voice as pretty as Ariel's could sound terrible when coming out of that...creature's mouth.

"Yeah," Marley answered slowly in the best fake New York accent she could pull off "we-we're just makin' some minor alterations."

"Yeah, you were looking a little...big around the hips." chimmed Anya.

'Vanessa' didn't answer but kept getting ready from behind a tri-fold screen. We took this as a good sign. How we managed to keep our faces hidden from her the entire time still stumps me to this day, but the important thing is that we did.

For a while we snipped away parts of the dress and re-sowed the material to different parts of the it, creating the Frankenstein of all dresses. Finally, the sound of the wedding march blasted into the room. We whipped our heads in each other's direction.

"Uh, your dress is ready! Umm...turn around and close your eyes!" sang Marley.

"Why would I do such a thing?" the fake bride screeched.

"It's custom here!" she lied smoothly, "Its bad luck to see yourself in your dress on your wedding day."

She glared but obliged and we strapped the monstrosity on her.

"It feels strange." she complained, her voice proud.

"That's how its supposed to feel! Now, out!"

With that, the three of us pushed her out of the room and onto the red carpeted isle. The gasp from the crowd was priceless. No, it redefined priceless. We could barley keep from laughing and when Ursula actually saw the dress and shrieked we straight up burst at the seams! Then she looked up and saw us laughing so hard we were crying on the ground. We stopped right then and there.

"YOU!" she growled in recognition and stormed right at us. We couldn't move, we didn't think to move. We just stood there like a trio of cows at the slaughter house as she came towards us. I thought we were toast when we heard a call followed by dozens of squawking birds.

"ATTACK MY WINGED MINIONS!" we heard Cameryn bellow as she made it over the railing. "ATTACK!"

The birds all got into a formation and swooped down, straight at the fuming Sea witch. The distraction was on. Birds, dolphins, starfish, even lobsters swarmed onto the ship, sending the guests into pandemonium. The scene was downright beautiful. Ariel and Rikki made it over the railing and gawked at what they saw. Scuttle, being one of the birds, took a heroic swipe at the seashell around her neck only to be grabbed by the throat and shaken violently.

"Scuttle!" I screamed running in to help him, but Max beat me to had gotten loose in all the chaos and went to scuttle's aid. He reared up, opened his mouth wide, and took a chomp out of her back side!

She shrieked and let scuttle go which, in turn, sent the shell flying. Everything went eerily silent. All eyes were on the shell as it flew up, up into the air, spun around a few times, hit the ground, and rolled...straight to my feet. My veins were drained and I paled as I picked up the shell. It was small and golden. It was amazing how something so small could cause so much trouble.

In my hand I held the key to getting us home safely. I looked up and around. My eyes traveled to my friends anxious faces. Right here, right now, I could go with them and bam! We were gone. On the other hand, I could destroy this entire world by doing that. I had to crush the shell, but... My eyes went from my friends to Ariel and back again. I didn't know what to do.

That's when the sea witch spoke.

"I would take that shell," she said, her voice taunting, "we had a deal, remember?"

I looked up, as did Rikki, Anya, Cameryn, Marley, and Ariel, only to find that the witch was addressing none other than me. I looked down and swallowed. My secret was out.

There was a shocked silence. I could feel all eyes were aimed right at me. It was the absolute most uncomfortable position I had ever been in. I snuck a peek up only to be met with Ariel's pleading and confused face. I felt terrible. Unable to look her in the eyes, I ducked my head back down and squeezed my eyes shut. Rikki was the first to recover.

"You're lying!" she screamed at the sea witch, "Kori would _never_ do something like that!"

It hurt to hear my friend defending me when I knew what I had done. I could feel water pressing at the backs of my eyes.

Ursula only laughed and said, "Oh, aren't you the little fighting fish? If you're so certain, then why don't you ask her yourself?"

There was a moment of hesitation before Cameryn spoke up.

"Kori?" she asked, her voice surprisingly soft, "Is it...?"

I nodded, too ashamed to look up. I willed my eyes to stay dry.

"You see?" the witch went on, "She admits to it."

Her words cut at me like a knife. The sea witch was clearly enjoying this.

"It looks like your friend isn't as noble as you thought ." her tone was mocking.

I started to tremble.

"She's a conniving-"

I couldn't take this. "Stop it..." I mumbled.

"A spineless-"

"Stop it."

"selfish-"

"Stop it!"

"Cowardly little traitor-"

"STOP IT!" I screamed. Before anyone could blink, I took the shell and smashed it at Ariel's feet. I couldn't do it. When it came down to the wire, I couldn't go through with my end of the deal. Whether Ursula reacted, I couldn't tell. All I could hear was the sound of blood pumping in my ears.

The shell shattered in a hundred different directions, and from it's rubble rose the golden mist that was Ariel's voice. It was still singing, an urethral sound that floated up and up, until it finally found its way into Ariel's throat. At that instant, the spell that had gripped the prince loosened itself.

"Ariel?" Eric wavered.

"Eric!" she burst with joy.

"You're the one!"

"Eric!" yelled Ursula, "Get away from her!"

Everybody just ignored her.

The couple leaned in to share the kiss at last... when the sun, as if playing a cruel joke, slipped under the horizon.

I couldn't believe it. After all of that we were still too late!

Ariel cried out in pain as her legs were transformed back into a sparkling green tail. The rest was a blur. Ursula changed back, Eric was thoroughly confused, and Ariel was dragged away over the railing.

"Ariel!" Eric cried after them.

The reality of the situation finally hit me and I zoomed into action. I ran the rest of my way to the group and gave orders.

"Rikki, Cameryn, follow them and get the trident. Anya, Marley,you come with me and we'll lead the prince to Ariel. If we can stop what's about to happen we have to try, if not we have to be ready. Go!"

My friends just stood there, varying looks ranging from hatred to disgust to disappointment were on there faces. I swallowed.

"Look guys...I know I-"

Marley just shook her head, "Save it, Kori."

She held my gaze before turning to the group. "Just do what she says. But as soon as we get off the ship, I give orders." With that, my friends separated, leaving me there. With a sigh, I followed Marley. This was not a time to feel guilty, explanations would come later. Right now, I had to do whatever I could to fix the situation.

Cameryn and Rikki swam fast. They couldn't afford to fall behind, not that there was much of a chance to. Before Ursula could drag Ariel off too far, she ran into King Triton. He was angry, holding a glowing trident up.

"Triton," the witch said slightly surprised, "how are you?"

The King wasn't in the mood for any of this. "Let her go." he commanded.

The witch's attitude changed completely. "Not a chance, Triton, she's mine! We made a deal." She flashed him the golden contract they had seen earlier while handing the mermaid off to her henchmen. She struggled against their grip.

"Daddy, I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I didn't know!" she sobbed.

King Triton, pissed as he was, sent a blast of energy to the contract. It was so powerful it knocked Ursula back up against a rock wall. But the contract stayed in tact.

"We can't let her get the trident-" Started Rikki.

"No duh, Einstien! The question is when do we make a grab for it?" said Cameryn.

A loud cry got their attention and they swiveled their gaze back to the scene unfolding. King Triton had replaced his name with Ariel's in the contract and the golden swirl that had been engulfing her zoomed over and around the king. Ursula was cackling as he was transformed into a polyp.

"I guess that answers that!" yelled Rikki and swam at the dropped trident, Cameryn following close behind.

Rikki was mere inches from it the handle when _Oof!_ She was forced back by a hard tentacle to the gut. Cameryn, however was unphased. Putting on speed she darted forward and just barley got her hands around it's golden handle when the witch lunged for her. Luckily, she ducked just in time to avoid being grabbed.

But Ursula wasn't giving up so easily.

"Give me the trident you worm!" she bellowed.

"Really," answered Cameryn putting a hand to her hip, "I risk my neck to get this thing and you think that by ordering me I'm gonna hand it over? Geeze that is _so_ cliche!"

Pushed to the limit, the witch made straight for a wide eyed Cameryn. Before she could get away Ursula wrapped a tentacle around her waist. Cameryn shivered but held fast to the trident, even when the witch tried to pry it from her hands. The two found themselves in a battle of tug-of-war with rays of energy blasting from the tridents tip with every movement. One of which almost hit Rikki and sent Flounder diving for cover.

"HEY! Watch where you aim that thing!" she screamed.

"If I could!" wailed back Cameryn.

The fight was fierce and it was anyone's game...until Ursula grabbed a handful of Cameryn's hair and pulled hard!

"YEEAAAOW!" she screeched as she was flung away.

The witch cackled victoriuosly, "That'll teach you to mess with the Queen of the Atlantica!"

In the meantime Ariel, who was kneeling by her father, boiled with rage.

"You. YOU MONSTER!" She swam forward with a burst of power and began to choke Ursula with every ounce of strength she had, only to be yanked back and pinned against the wall.

"Don't fool with me you little brat!" Ursula yelled turning the trident on her "Contract or no I'll-"

"Yeow!" the witch screamed as Eric launched a harpoon at her, grazing her arm. Behind her Ariel snatched hers away just as it whizzed past.

After Cameryn, and Rikki swam off Anya, Marley and I practically pushed Eric over the side of the wedding ship, into the dory, and down to the water. It didn't take very long to lead him to the area and apparently we made it just in time.

"Great aim." Anya said to him.

"After him!" Ursula ordered her goons and they sped towards him.

"Anya, help him to the boat!" Marley ordered and she grabbed Eric by the arm.

"You!" she yelled in my direction, "help me hold those two off."

The two of us sped downwards. We met the eels about halfway down in a messy tangle. We made a mad effort to subdue them, Marley took Flotsam and I took Jetsam (or was it the other way around?), only to be wrapped up in their super-long tails.

"Well this backfired a little bit." said Marley.

It did more than backfire. Not only were we incapacitated but the eels were slowly tightening their grip on us. The more we squirmed the tighter they 'hugged'. If we kept this up they were going to crush us to death. Already I was finding it hard to draw water into my lungs.

Then the cavalry came.

"C'mon!" came a shout from Sebastian and he and Flounder came to our rescue.

Sebastian and Flounder each took an eel and set us free in one motion. Flounder socked my captor in the face repeatedly with his tail while Sebastian freed Marley with one hard pinch. Immediately their grips released and we floated down in sweet relief.

"NO!" I could hear Ursula scream in rage. Then with a wicked smile she aimed the trident right at me and Marley and turned to Ariel.

"Say goodbye to your friends." she said and the trident hummed with energy.

Just as she was about to fire Ariel leaped up and yanked on the sea witch's hair ( causing a hum of approval from Cameryn) ruining her aim.

We all watched with mouths agape as the blast of energy traveled up, arched, and hit the two henchmen, disintegrating them in a violent flash. It looked quite painful and I almost felt sorry for the two, the key word her being "almost".

"Quick!" Cameryn yelled motioning to the surface, "While she's distracted!"

We swam like mad women possessed keeping just behind Ariel. We managed to burst through the surface just seconds before the water shot forward as a now giant Sea witch erupted upward.

Ursula towered stories high over us and the oceans began to churn. A terrible storm was exploding over our heads and waves rolled at least 15 feet high! We tried as best we could to stay together until a enormous wave loomed and crushed us under. The swirling current was too strong and I felt myself being pulled away. Worrying, I resurfaced and looked around. No one. There was no one but the giant sea witch laughing maniacally.

"Anya! Rikki! Marley! Cam!" I screamed only to have the wind steal my words.

_Shwaaaaam! _A sudden boom caught my attention and I whirled to it. My eyes caught Ariel and two other figures tumbling down a deep whirlpool caused by Ursula.

"Shoot." I swam towards the pool with all my might. I had to see who was trapped. Was it Marley? Or Cameryn? Maybe Anya? The adrenaline was pumping fresh through my veins as I neared the edge. I let myself be carried along with the harsh current and peeked through the watery curtain. What I saw made my gut twist in horror. Along with Ariel in the pit was both Rikki and Prince Eric.

Think on my feet (or something like it...) I pumped my fins and broke my arm through the vortex. Using the force of the current I grabbed Eric and pulled him into the water. A shocked look was etched on his face and I pointed to the sunken ships that were now rising to the surface. He took one look at them and the idea sparked inside his brain. Eric took off instantly. I watched him from a distance, he swam furiously and grabbed onto a loose rope that was dragging through the water, climbed on board and put an end to the sea witch for good.

Hours later it was morning and we all sat on rocks along the shore. Ariel slumped looking on to the sand at a sleeping prince Eric. The mood was dismal each one of us lost in our own thoughts. We were never going to get home. Our only way out of here was destroyed thanks to me. I felt like crying. Never had I felt this way, at least until I thought about my monumental failure.

I watched as the scene from the movie unfold, sitting on some rocks a little ways off from my friends . Behind us the king and Sebastian were talking and I knew that any moment now Ariel was going to get her legs. I saw as he placed the tip of the trident into the water and a shining trail made it's way to Ariel. I knew this scene by heart and saw her look up at her father, beaming. Slowly she walked to the shore and to her prince. Eric look at her in amazement before running up to her, twirling her around and sharing a loving kiss.

I only watched. I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard the booming voice near me.

"Is something wrong?" It asked.

I turned to see the bitter-sweet face of the King.

Depends, I thought, do have a few hours to kill?

"Oh, it's just...we need the sea witch's shell to get back home but on the ship I smashed it to give Ariel back her voice. Now we don't know where it is or how we're going to get out of here."

He was thoroughly confused so I quickly gave him a synopsis of our story, even my little mix up with the witch. When I finished he studied me curiously before smiling and saying, "Well, I believe I can help."

This caught me by surprise, "How? Do you know where the shell is?"

"No, it should be long gone. But I have another idea." he disappeared below the surface. The others swam towards me with questioning looks on their faces, I just shrugged. The king finally returned holding something behind his back.

"It's not the shell," he said, "but I have a feeling that this is can substitute."

King Triton lifted his hand from behind his back and produced a very familiar glowing document.

"It's the contract!" blurted Marley shying away from it.

"Yeah, but how-" the answer dawned on me. "OH! When the riddle said "trapped inside" it didn't have to be literal!"

Rikki scratched her head, "I don't follow..."

"It's simple." I explained , "The riddle said that her voice was trapped inside of something. That something could be the shell, literally, or it could be taken figuratively. Like it was trapped inside of the deal. This contract is evidence of the deal!"

"So this means we can go home!" squealed Anya.

"Exactly."

The King smiled, "And so, for sacrificing your way home for my youngest daughter, I give you this as a reward." He handed me the paper and I slowly took it from his hand.

"Thank you." I said.

The king smiled and nodded before disappearing under the waves. I looked around at my friends and found that they, once again, wore stone cold expressions on their faces.

"Don't think," said Cameryn, "That just because you got the contract, this changes anything. You still pulled a very stupid move."

I sobered up and nodded. It was to be expected.

That moment our M.I.L.D.s beeped. Taking them out, mine immediately shrunk the contract and stored it. The screen now read Kori: 1 point. I grinned. Maybe I wasn't a complete failure after all...

Again they beeped and our teleportation went under way. The last thing I saw was a sight of Eric and Ariel sitting warm on the sand waving in our direction.

A figure watched the scene from behind an eroded rock. He scowled, wondering where his plan could have gone wrong this time. It was clear that he had seriously underestimated this motley crew.

No matter, he thought, at least he still had a conciliation prize. Now that there was mistrust in their ranks, breaking the girls would be a piece of cake. He grinned a twisted grin, reached into his coat and produced the remote. With the click of a button, he was gone.

_Ok, so that's the end of the rewrite for little mermaid! What did you think? If you've already reviewed this chapter, pm me. I really want some feedback for this new idea. _


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello! So here's the chapter 14 edit. Please, PLEASE go back and read the last chapter or else you won't get why the girls are acting differently. That's all I gotta say. ON WITH THE- oh, you get the picture.**

Chapter 14: Triangle

Our latest teleport involved us appearing over the tops of buildings. In midair. We hovered in place for a split second before falling to the hard, cobblestone streets below. Luckily, before the five of us reached the streets we rebounded off of an awning. We flew up a couple of feet before promptly being reclaimed by gravity.

"Oof! Man after the fifth time you'd think Mickey would be a little more gentle." grumbled Cameryn. I sat up, rubbing my backside.

"Right?" I winced. Cameryn looked in my direction and threw me a look meant to kill. I closed my mouth and shrank back. Clearly, she was still sore. I decided to remain silent.

"Lighten up, Cam. Things could be much worse." said Marley, stealing back her attention. Her gaze was purposely kept away from me.

"Oh yeah? HOW?"

Marley stopped and thought for a moment before responding. "We could be dead."

"Ha ha. You're hilarious."

"Hey, where is everyone? This place is a ghost town." wondered Rikki.

For the first time we became aware of the eerie quiet of the city street. No one milled around; all the buildings had their windows shut and their doors locked. The streets were unusually quiet. Only a lone piece of paper whirled in the breeze like a stereotypical tumble weed in an old western movie. The silence brought shivers down my back until the sound of rolling drums and trumpets came from just around the corner. Curious, we rounded the corner and saw a massive crowd of people. They sang as three rows of men marched into the square.

_Come one, come all_

_leave your mills and milking stools_

_coop the chickens_

_pen the mules._

_Come one, come all_

_close the churches and the schools_

_It's the day for breaking rules_

_come and join the feast of _

_FOOLS!_

"Whoa!" exclaimed Marley, as confetti fell, "This place...These are my people! I know this movie! We're in Hunchback!"

She couldn't be more right. The entire scene was both chaotic and familiar. Clopin slid out from under the crowd and the phrase "all hell broke loose" took on a whole new meaning. People were doing the most bizarre things you could imagine! A man walking on his hands, a row of girls can-caning, dogs walking people, it was madness.

"Well, as long as we're here we might as well look the part. Catch!" said Anya tossing Rikki a billowy skirt. Wondering wear she had gotten it, I looked and saw a wooden crate filled with colorful clothing. She tossed skirts and patched up shirts to everyone. When she saw my face, however, her smile wavered and she looked away. I reached into the crate quietly.

"You're kidding, right?" Rikki answered dryly.

"C'mon, five girls wearing pants. That's bound to get someone's attention. And we'll probably get arrested." Anya reasoned, pulling a tattered shirt over her own.

"And five gypsies won't?" Rikki held the dyed blue skirt at arms length and eyed it up and down. She looked like she'd just smelled something rotten.

"This is the Feast of Fools, Rikki! It's like wearing camouflage here." said Marley.

In the end we were all disguised as gypsies. The song continued to play and we could just make out a stooped, cloaked figure going to every extent to stay hidden. There was no doubt about it, it was Quasimodo. We made our way further into the crowd of insane and, frankly, drunken people. Everything was a jumble of sights, sounds, and smells. Some were pleasant and others were putrid. Finally everything came to somewhat of a standstill while still retaining it's insanity.

"Oh,my..." breathed Marley making cow eyes at the stage.

I was about to ask her what she was looking at, then decided against it. Better to keep my mouth shut. Instead I decided to follow her gaze. I looked up at the stage but only saw Clopin announcing Esmeralda's dance. There was no one else. Then it clicked.

"Clopin?" I blurted out before I could stop myself. Marely looked over her shoulder and shot me an icey stared before turning back to fawn over the gypsy king.

"Just look at him! He's insane, he's lively, he can sing like an angel. He's...he's...Oh! I think I'm in love."

Nearby Cameryn, Anya, and Rikki eyed her with concern. I sighed. _It figures. He's just as off kilter as she is._

Clopin watched as Esmeralda preformed her dance and smiled inwardly. She'd always been an excellent dancer and she had earned enough money to prove it. But even after years of watching her her skill never ceased to impress him.

His eyes wandered to the crowd of French peasants staring wide-eyed. The turn out for this years festival was the usual, the baker, the taylor, a few farm families and shop keepers. But wait, there were 3...4...5 new faces! Gypsy girls by the looks of it. And one in particular caught his eye. A taller one with hair the color of wheat fields and a clear complexion. She might not have had the usual exotic look of a regular gypsy but she was still quite pretty.

"Oh, Clopin you ole fool." he thought to himself, "You've gone and fallen for the looks a lady..."

Once Esmeralda stopped dancing, Clopin was back on the stage.

_Here it is _

_the moment you've been waiting for_

_here it is_

_you know exactly what's in store_

_Nows the time to laugh until your sides get sore_

_Nows the time to crown the King of Fools!_

The crowd...and Marley...cheered in excitement as contestants climbed onto the stage. They all had on wacky masks with stitched on expressions. At the far end I saw Quasimodo being pulled up by Esmeralda. One by one she went and unmasked each contestant. And every time they were pushed off the stage by an all-to-eager Djali. I watched with shallow breath as the line got shorter and shorter, until finally, only Quasi was left standing.

Esmeralda reached down and grabbed the edge of his cheeks. She gave them a good tug or two before gasping and realizing that it was his real face. The crowd all hushed and gasped and poor Quasi's deformed face flushed. But before things could blow over, Clopin came to Quasi's aid.

"Now, now. Don't be alarmed! We asked for the ugliest face in Paris and here he is! Quasimodo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame!"

"He's so heroic." sighed Marley.

After a brief moment everyone cheered again and the song continued. The crowd threw some more confetti and hoisted Quasi up on their shoulders. Then they dumped him on the official throne and paraded him around the square. Along the way, I caught Quasi giving a little wave in Frollo's direction. The Judge looked royally pissed. Finally, he was dropped off at the center of the square. He was given a cloak and flowers, a regular Ms. America, and true to form started to tear up. Frollo had been completely wrong about these people. They loved him, they really did! And he was having the time of his life. He should have tried sneaking out years ago!

Then, it all came crashing down with a single thrown tomato. Followed by another, then a squash. Before we knew it produce rained from the sky, splattering him. A couple of good for nothing guards jumped up and tied him to a spinning wheel. Round and round he went, all the while being pelted with rotten tomatoes and eggs.

"Guys we gotta go and help him!" yelled Anya.

The others nodded and started towards him. I stayed a little ways back. The crowd was so thick with people it was like moving through chilled molasses. No matter how much we pushed and shoved we could barely move a foot in distance.

"Master!" Quasi wailed, "Master, help me!"

Still, the kept taunting him and all Frollo did was turn his head.

Just as we thought we were getting somewhere the crowd let out a loud gasp. We looked up and saw Esmeralda climbing up to where he was tied. She walked tentatively over to him, knelt and gently cleaned his face with the edge of her wrap.

"You! Gypsy girl!" commanded Frollo, "Get down from there, at once!"

"Yes, your honor. Just as soon as I free this poor creature." she replied calmly.

"I forbid it!"

Esmeralda reached down and unsheathed a sharp dagger. With a flash of the blade, she sliced the ropes off of Quasi.

"How dare you defy me." seethed Frollo.

"This poor boy needed my help. You mistreat him the same way you mistreat my people. You speak of justice, yet you are cruel to those most in need of your help." She cried.

"Silence!"

"JUSTICE!"

Again, everyone gasped at her boldness as he reached down and helped Quasi to his feet.

"Mark my words gypsy," warned Frollo, "You will pay for this insolence."

"Then it appears we have crowned the wrong fool," she grabbed the crown off Quasi's head. "The only fool I see here is you!"

She tossed the crown to a flabbergasted Frollo and the crowd burst into laughter.

Then nine horse-riding guards came forward to arrest her.

"Lets see, there's nine of you and only one of me." She began to mock cry and pulled out a handkerchief, "Oh, what's a poor girl to do?" With that she blew into the cloth and disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

"That's our cue to go!" Marley urged and ran to Notre Dame.

"Aww, I wanted to watch the chase!" whined Rikki

"Oh, c'mon!" Cam sighed and tugged her right behind us.

The door to Notre Dame closed with a resounding boom. The dim inside was a stark contrast with the bright and bizarre outside. Sunlight streamed through the high windows and the pungent scent of incense filled the air. Overall, it was very serene.

Cameryn, being a devout catholic, walked straight to the main alter (which was HUGE!) bowed and crossed herself before rejoining us in the walk way. The place was so big it took her five minutes just to get there! Luckily, we entertained ourselves by watching Phoebes get his butt handed to him by Esmeralda. By that time they had both wandered in here.

"So, what-?" Rikki asked.

"SHHH!" said Cameryn "We're in a church! Whisper!"

Rikki shot her a look of annoyance and started over in a hushed voice "What now?"

"I don't know. Did we get a riddle?" I asked. The others just gave me looks and I blushed a deep red. We'd been so distracted by the events outside we didn't bother to check out MILDs.

Anya whipped hers out and said, "Yeah, says**:**

**'**Welcome to The Hunchback of Notre Dame! Your riddle is:

_In the winding streets of town_

_Your latest item is around_

_Look about and listen well_

_another's lips the riddle tell.'"_

"Well this is a piece of-" Started Marley before being chastised by a look from Cameryn.

"Crud." she finished sheepishly.

_Boom! The doors of the cathedral flew open and Frollo along with a few soldiers burst in._

"Ah, Good work Captain Phoebes." he said. "Now arrest them."

"Sh-shoot." Marley said. We were standing only a few feet away from both the Captain and Esmeralda, who turned back and saw us after the word 'them'.

"I'm sorry sir, but she claimed sanctuary." Phoebus lied, indicating Esmeralda.

"And the other five vermin?" Frollo questioned.

We couldn't claim the right fast enough. Without any prompting, we started crying the word out multiple times. "Sanctuary! Sanctuary, sanctuary, sanctuary!" we cried in a jumble.

Frollo gave us and Esmeralda a disgusted look. "Then drag them outside and-"

"Frollo, you will not touch them!" the Archdeacon stormed up to our rescue. "Don't worry," he told Esmeralda "Minister Frollo learned years ago to respect the sanctity of the church."

Hearing this Cameryn gave an approving nodd.

He seethed but obediently waved his guards out of the building. And Djali made sure that Phoebes left. But as the Archdeacon led the others Frollo snuck up on Esmeralda and restrained her. We walked up to protest but Cam held us back.

"You think you've outwitted me. But I'm a patient man. And gypsies don't do well inside stone walls." he sniffed her hair and I gagged in disgust.

"What are you doing?" Said Esmeralda. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Imagining a rope around that beautiful neck of yours." he answered her.

She broke free from his grasp.

"I know exactly what you were imagining." she spat.

"And it had nothing to do with ropes, you perv," added Cameryn.

"Such clever witches. So typical of your kind to twist the truth and cloud the mind with unholy thoughts."

"Careful, Frollo. You'll get smitten if you keep lying in churches." Cameryn fired back with an icy stare.

He just threw us a smug grin and made his way out.

"You've chosen a beautiful prison. But it is a prison nonetheless." he slammed the door on his heels and left us back in the candlelight and incense.

_The edit is done, and yes, I'm not dead! To be honest, I've kinda been avoiding this a little. My confidence and interest waned over the last couple of months, but I'm happy to say I think I've caught me second wind. I'll be done with the edits as soon as I can, but please be patient. Anyways, review, as always and thanks for reading!_

_P.S. Don't get why the girls are pissed at Kori? Read the end of chapter 12 and reread 13. ;)_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

We stood still for a moment letting the information sink in. We were prisoners, trapped in a church. One step outside and we were goners. The possibility for escape was slim, surely Frollo would have the church guarded. But this place was huge! How much time would it take for a guard to be posted at every single door?

Esmeralda must have thought the same thing. She and Anya both dashed to the nearest door. They opened it just a crack, from where we stood we could hear the orders clearly.

"Frollo's orders. Post a guard at every door." rang the voice of the guard. Esmeralda slammed the heavy wood in desperation but Anya wasn't easily discouraged. Before we could stop her she ran to another entrance and we did the only thing we could, we followed.

She threw open the door and took a couple steps outside.

"I don't see any guards. I think we can get out through here." She whispered.

The others shared a look, deliberately ignoring me, and we all tentatively stepped out. There was complete silence. The street was deserted and there weren't any guards in sight.

"See? The co-" she started to say when an arrow whizzed just inches past her head.

"Look they're escaping!" shouted a sentry. Shoot, he was a sneaky one.

We all turned and ran through the threshold with a rain of arrows at our backs. I turned my head just as an arrow flew in and pinned down a corner of Anya's skirt. She fell awkwardly on her side and let out a yelp of pain, her upper half was in the church and her lower half was outside. It was a fifty-fifty but knowing Frollo he'll only count her legs.

Before I could even react Esmeralda was already at her side pulling her through the door. The rest of us made it in time to shut the doors with a resounding boom. That was insanely close.

"Ow..." groaned Anya. We were at her side in a split second.

"Are you ok?" Rikki asked.

"Yeah, but my ankle hurts."

Esmeralda lifted the torn edge of her skirt and inspected it.

"It looks a little swollen, tell me if this hurts." she started to press it gently.

"Ow! ow. Yeah, it hurt a little."

The archdeacon, who was nearby lighting a few candles walked over and inspected Anya's ankle from over Esmeralda's shoulder.

"Hmm. It looks like a minor sprain. Come, I think I have some bandages and a crutch." he said.

Our group got up and helped Anya off the ground. Rikki and I supported her as we followed the Archdeacon. While we went along Esmeralda and the Priest were talking but I only caught the tail end of the discussion.

"What do they have against people who are different anyways?" Esmeralda seethed.

"You can't right all the wrongs of this world alone," said the Archdeacon.

"Well, nobody out there's gonna help that's for sure," she said.

"Then perhaps there's some one in here who can, come girls."

We all followed except for Esmeralda. I was going to turn back and get her but was stopped by a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and Cameryn gave me a shake of the head. I understood. I shouldn't interrupt her, this was her time alone with God.

(scene change)

We followed the Archdeacon down an obscure hallway and to a small room. There he opened a cupboard and removed a reel of some coarse cloth. With it he gently wrapped up Anya's injury.

"It's nothing serious, she should be able to walk on it after a few days. Right now she should use a crutch." he told us. After he was done he opened up a different cupboard, this one looked more like a small wardrobe, and produced a couple of wooden crutches. As soon as he was satisfied with Anya's ability to walk with the crutches, he gave us a smile and left.

It didn't take long for us to decide our next move. We went up to the bell tower as fast as we possibly could. You really would think that Anya had a hard time climbing the stairs but she quickly got the hang of it. By the time we made it all the way up we found Quasimodo and Esmeralda enjoying the view from the top of the tower.

"Come on guys lets get Anya up this ladder," Marley said.

"Uh...no, no I'm fine. I'll wait for you guys here," she objected.

"But don't you wanna see the view? And what if the riddle is said up there?" she asked.

"I...Whoa!"

Before she could finish objecting Camery and Marley lifted her up as Rikki pulled her to the platform. As soon as she was steady we all walked out to the roof and gasped. The view was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. You could see for miles and miles around. And the sunset! It was spectacular, the last few rays of the day bounced off the two rivers bordering the city. But there wasn't much time to admire because Quasi was just about to help Esmeralda escape.

"Wait!" Cameryn cried.

Quasimodo turned his head and shrank back a little when he saw the five of us.

"No, it's ok! We won't hurt you," she said "All we want is to get out of here. Do you think we could follow?"

He took a couple of seconds to answer, but he did so enthusiastically.

"S-sure! Any friend of Esmeralda's is a friend of mine." he said. "Just follow me."

"Thanks so much," said Cameryn.

"Good, so just step where I step and you should be fine. And whatever you do don't look down." Quasi instructed.

The reality of what we were about to do was starting to dawn on all of us. Especially Anya.

"W-wait, we have to climb down? On the side of the building?"she asked.

"There's no other way," said Quasimodo.

"But I can't walk!" she countered.

"That's fine, you can ride on my back! It won't be any trouble." he suggested.

Anya looked over the side and quickly jerked back.

"No, no. I'll just get in your way. Besides you have Esmeralda and Djali to worry about. I...I'll just stay up here." she said nervously.

We exchanged glances. She had a very valid point, but we couldn't leave her alone! Especially with an injury.

"Anya's right," I said, and was met by eight wary glances. I hunched my shoulders. "I'll stay behind with her. And we can stay in touch with the gadgets."

"I don't know..." Marley trailed and gave me the once over.

"They'll be fine here then," said Quasi. To be honest, he let a hint of relief wash over his face. Esmeralda was a big enough burden. Not to mention her goat, " They still have sanctuary and I could definitely use the company."

I for one wasn't too keen on the group separating. But given the circumstances and where we stood, it was clearly the best choice. It was apparent that the others didn't want me with them. I would only be an annoyance. It would be better if the group moved along, at least then they could get the job done much quicker.

"Alright. We'll go and if we find the riddle we'll tell you right away," Cam said, " we have no more time to loose. Lets go,"

He nodded and disappeared over the railing and the three of them followed. Rikki hung back for a second and looked at Anya.

"You know," she sighed, "You really have to get over your fear of heights."

(Scene change)

If they were tell you that the trip down was thrilling, that would be an understatement. It was literally one of the most terrifying experiences of their lives. Quasimodo made the trip look easy and even though he warned them not to look down, they found it a complete impossibility. Out of the three of them, Cameryn faired the best. Being both a gymnast and an excellent climber by nature this feat was less scary for her. Halfway through the climb Quasi had to make a couple of trips to get the girls from one roof to the other. In the end they were all thankful to be back on solid ground.

Marley, Cam, and Rikki sat on a ledge about eight feet from the ground panting heavily. Both from exhaustion and the adrenaline rush.

"Never...again," Marley huffed. The ordeal was hard on her. Rikki could tell. Throughout the entire thing she was absolutely silent. A sure sign of her fear.

"Agreed," she said.

Quasi was talking to Esmeralda just a few feet away. Rikki could barely make out what they were saying. Not that she was paying much attention. Recovery first, search later. However, Rikki did catch her handing him a necklace of some kind, but didn't think much of it. That is until Cameryn snatched her arm.

"Did you hear that?" she asked.

"No, hear what?"

"Ugh! That's the object! Esmeralda said the riddle."

"Oh," she said, "Guess I _should_ have been paying attention."

"We have to tell the others!" whispered Marley.

"Later, right now we have to get to the court of miracles with Esmeralda," Cameryn said.

They hopped down from the ledge and ran right behind Esmeralda while waving a goodbye to Quasi.

(Scene change)

It took the group a while to get to the Court of Miracles in the complete darkness, but they managed. After sliding off a two ton stone from a fake grave and wading through sludge that is. But it was all worth it. The Court of Miracles lived up to it's name. There were colors and sound and little colorful houses and tents everywhere, much like the Feast of Fools only the crowd was much more subdued. The people bustled around and when they looked closely t heycould see that the houses where actually caravan wagons. Marley, Cameryn, and Rikki followed Esmeralda to one of the tents, a big one with golden stars and suns, and crawled inside. Marley gasped automatically and Cameryn and Rikki had to restrain her.

"Well! There you are, la Esmeralda's back!" came the happy cry from Clopin.

"Almost didn't make it," she laughed back, "I would have been tied up at the steak right now if it wasn't for the bell ringer. And I brought some friends."

Clopin's eyes looked back towards them and his face brightened.

"Ah! Yes, I remember seeing them at the Feast today! Come, come. Where are the others, there were more of you." He said.

"They're still at the church. Anya, the red haired one, got hurt. Kori volunteered to stay with her until her ankle heals," Rikki explained.

"That's a shame," said Clopin, "We can get the others in a few days time. But as long as you three are here, Welcome to your new home!" He turned his attention towards Cameryn, " Especially you my little sunflower."

Their gaze shifted towards Cameryn, Marley was clearly hurt.

"Excuse me?" she asked, her face contorted.

"Yes, my sunflower?" Clopin asked romantically.

"Are you... hitting on me?" said Cam filled with disgust.

"Why, would I ever want to hit such a pretty little thing?" he asked, completely oblivious to Cameryns attitude.

Cameryn snapped. She stood, stepped towards and hit him with a sharp slap! Clopin rubbed his burning cheek.

"Cameryn!" Marley yelled.

"GET A LIFE YOU PERV! I'M ONLY FIFTEEN!" she screamed ignoring Marley.

"Feisty," was all Clopin could say. He was still rubbing his cheek. Rikki started apologizing left and right for Cameryn's outburst, offering to get him a wet rag to help the sting. Meanwhile, Marley was giving Cameryn a hard time about harming her future 'hubby' and Esmeralda was laughing hard next to an equally amused Djali.

Rikki shook her head, knowing that one thing was clear: The next few days here were going to be very interesting...

**Haha! Hows THAT for a Hunchback chapter! Lolz, so you know the rule, review and gimme some feed back. Tell me what you like, what you want to see, etc. Until next time, CYA!**


	16. Chapter 16 part 1

Chapter 16

Rikki and Anya sat in Quasimodo's workshop. It was just them, the model town, and the Bells. Anya's ankle was healing nicely to the point of her regaining her ability to walk, although it was with a limp. On the downside they were incredibly bored. There was nothing to do around the bell tower but polishing bells. Rikki wondered how Quasimodo could stand it!

Rikki sighed, "I have an idea."

Anya lifted her head from the table, "What?"

"Let's set the Frollo miniature on fire."

Anya only rolled her eyes and mumbled, "How could you joke about fire at a time like this?"

"Right, sorry."

Paris was burning and they hadn't heard from their friends since they made it to the court of miracles. And even then they only talked for a few seconds. But after that nothing. They were worried about their friends and prayed they hadn't been caught by Frollo in the gypsy hunt. Rikki replayed their last communication in her mind.

"We're fine," She remembered Kori confirming, "We made it to the Court fine. Even though there was a little trouble with Cam and Clopin." she'd said after a particularly noisy disturbance in the background. "We'll explain later, but listen. We heard the riddle, Esmeralda said it and the thing is with _you_ guys."

"What? Where is it?" She asked. "How do we get to it?"

"Quasi has it. But you can't touch it." _Of course,_Rikki said to herself.

"Not yet anyways. It's the only way-- Shoot. Look we gotta go. Don't try calling us, it could be dangerous and as nice as these people are, they still have sticky fingers. We'll call you as soon as possible. Hang tough!"

"No wait! Tell us what-"

And they were gone. That was two days ago, they still weren't sure what the object was, and the wait was driving her insane.

The first bars of 'A guy like you' started playing.

_Paris, the city of lovers_

_is glowing this evening._

_True that's because it's on fire_

_But still there's l'amour_

_Somewhere out there in the night_

_Her Heart is also alight_

_And I know the guy_

_It might be burning for..._

"Ugh," groaned Rikki, "I am so over these song and dance routines." She got up and moved closer to the bells.

"Hey, wait up," said Anya and limped just a few feet behind. After climbing up a short side ladder (with minor difficulties) she found Rikki balancing on a support beam by Jeanne Marie(the bell).

Anya climbed up and sat next to her. A span of silence rang through the bells as the girls just sat there, unmoving. Each lost on her own train of thought for what seemed like hours until Anya broke the silence.

"They're fine," she said trying to convince her friend and, quite frankly, herself, "If Esmeralda's ok then they should be too. I mean they know better than to just be walking around in broad daylight during a gypsy hunt. Plus when you talked-"

"That was two days ago, Anya. Y' know how many things could happen in 48 hours? Especially with Marley? And besides, the Court of Miracles is filled to the brim with all the scoundrels of Paris! And not all of them are like Esmeralda or Clopin. If Frollo hasn't gotten to them what if...I don't know. There's just...too many variables here."

Anya took a moment to consider before speaking, "But, if you think about it Clopin is the gypsy king practically. And knowing them they'll stick as close to the characters as possible. So we at least have that. So just try to calm down, chill. Take a second and listen to the song."

_Clonk_! As soon as Anya stopped talking the door to the bell tower opened.

"Quasimodo?" asked a familiar voice.

"Esmeralda!" Anya, Quasi, and Rikki exclaimed as one.

"You're alright, I knew you'd come back." Quasi continued after a quick hug.

"Quasimodo, you've done so much for me already my friend but I must ask your help one more time," she said, pulling him to the door.

"Anything," he answered with a smile.

She let go and sped back to the door with Quasi just behind. At this point Rikki jumped down from the rafters and Anya climbed down the ladder to where everyone else stood.

Through the door came Djali and a tall, burly gypsy man supporting Phoebus' limp form. Quasi was baffled.

"This is Phoebus. He's wounded and a fugitive like me. He can't go on much longer, I knew he'd be safe here. Please can you hide him?" she quickly explained.

"Yes," Quasi answered and signaled them with a wave of his hand, "This way."

The little group followed as he led them to a small corner separated from the rest of the bell tower by a thin sheet. In the makeshift room there was a modest mat and a pillow. Esmeralda and the gypsy man gently lowered Phoebus and rested his head on the pillow.

"Esmeralda," Phoebus groaned.

"Shh," she silenced him with a finger to his lips, "You'll hide here until you're strong enough to move."

Afterwards she pulled out a wine sack and popped it's cork.

"Great," said Phoebus, "I could go for a drink. AHH!" He winced as Esmeralda poured the wine sack's contents onto his wound.

They continued talking as she cleaned and dressed his injury with a sewing needle and thread. She broke the string with her teeth, producing another wince from Phoebus, and layed down the needle.

"You're lucky," she told him, "that arrow almost pierced your heart."

Phoebus took her hand, "I'm not so sure it didn't."

_Oh brother, _Rikki rolled her eyes. Next to her she could hear Anya sigh.

Then, to poor Quasi's dismay, the couple shared a kiss. He was devastated, the poor guy. There he was thinking like an idiot that a girl as pretty and kind and amazing as Esmeralda would actually love him. Only to be confronted by cruel reality. She had chosen Phoebus, ex-captain of the guard. Sun-god man. It took all the willpower he had not to cry outright. And what's more, the kiss seemed to go on forever tormenting him for as long as possible.

Finally, her lips parted from his but the tender moment was cut short by Djali's urgent bleating.

Quasi and Rikki raced to the side of the bell tower and peered down. They were alarmed to see the small figure of Frollo dismounting his carriage and heading inside the church.

"Oh my God," said a wide eyed Rikki.

"Frollo's coming," he told the gypsies, "You must leave."

They raced down a few ladders with Djali leading the way. About a quarter of the way there Anya fell behind while Rikki kept on.

"Go down the south tower steps," Quasi instructed.

Esmeralda quickly turned and grabbed his hands, "Be careful my friend. Promise you won't let anything happen to him."

"I promise," he said.

Esmeralda turned to leave just as Rikki called out. "Wait!"

She spun around.

"Our friends, are they safe?" Rikki asked her.

"Yes, their in the Court." She panted, then turned and ran out to the south tower.

Rikki breathed a sigh of relief. Good. The others were safe, now they could actually concentrate on -

"Quick!" cried Anya tugging Rikki, "we gotta hide!"

Quasimodo dragged Phoebus' unconscious body and threw him under his work table. Anya and Rikki managed to squeeze in right as Frollo went up the last few steps to the bell tower.

"Ow, you're on my hand!" murmured Rikki.

"Shh! I had to limp around here for three days practically! Live with it." snapped Anya.

From below they could hear a conversation going on between Quasimodo and Frollo. Then a loud ruckus of cups shuffling and either glass or ceramic breaking, then Quasi's skittish foot steps coming towards the table.

"Something's troubling you, Quasimodo," said Frollo.

"Oh, n-nothing's troubling me."

"There is, I know there is." as he finished his sentence a grape fell from his hand, rolled off the table and hit the floor with a light _thup._

Anya squealed and Rikki bit her lip as Quasi hesitated then slowly bent down and picked up the grape.

"I think," Frollo continued, "You're hiding something."

"Oh, no master I-"

"You're not eating, boy" the judge snapped and Quasi nervously bolted down his grapes.

"It's very good," he said through a full mouth, "thank you."

"Ugh, ohhh..." Phoebus groaned as he came to and the girls shot each other the same panicked look. Luckily, Quasi thought fast and kicked Phoebus square in the head to keep him quiet.

"Something's different in here," the judge said conversationally.

Qausi began to object but Frollo ignored him and picked up the figure of Esmeralda from the work table.

"This one's new. It's awfully good. Looks very much like that gypsy girl."

There was a tense silence before he went mad, "I know you helped her escape!"

He hit the table so hard it tottled over both directions. The two girls held each other out of fear of discovery as the table tilted sharply to the left, then the right. When the table sat still once more they could feel one another relax oh so slightly and started listening to the conversation once more.

"No matter," they heard Frollo, " I will free you from her evil spell, so that she may torment you no longer."

"What do you mean?" asked Quasimodo.

"I know where her hideout is. Tomorrow at dawn, we attack."

Rikki and Anya stood stone still until they couldn't hear Frollo's foot falls at all. When they cautiously crawled out Anya's stomach turned to jelly when she saw the Esmeralda figure burning on the ground.

_Sorry to cut it short you guys but this chapter refuses to cooperate with me so I'm going to end it there and split chapter 16 into two parts. And please forgive the late update, on top of me having my worst case of writer's block ever we've been having computer troubles lately. But do not worry! While this chapter is just a filler on what's going on at the church it gives me a way to work around the block and actually get this thing going!I know I said this last time but now that this is out of the way the next update should come fairly quickly. So as always, review, comment, correct, scold, whatever as long as you press that green button and types something up! Cya!_


	17. Chapter 16 part 2

"It's too dangerous!" said Quasi, pulling his cloak over his shoulders.

"Dangerous? It wasn't too dangerous to take our friends down the side of the church a few days ago." cried Anya.

"That was before the gypsy hunt started," Quasi gritted his teeth then sighed, "Look, I understand you're worried but Frollo has spies everywhere." The girls only shot him a cold look and Quasi started to lose some of his determination. Victor, Hugo and Laverne however came to his aid.

"Now listen, you two can't go out there," Victor started.

"Yeah, you won't be a help to anybody if ya go and get yourselves caught!" interjected Laverne wagging a finger at them.

Rikki rolled her eyes. This was impossible. If Quasimodo wasn't so good natured and fragile she would have had no problem slapping him and laying down the law. But this is the guy who gave them a place to stay. A real sanctuary. Controlling herself was the absolute least she could do.

"Guys, I know you're trying to protect us but trust me when I say worse things have happened. Hiding from a few sleepy guards is child's play." she argued.

Quasimodo stopped for a moment, his back turned to them. Could he actually be considering taking them along? There was the fact that they were gypsies. They probably knew where the Court of Miracles was. No, it was crazy. Regardless of their street smarts he did not want to get them locked up in a stone cell.

He shook his head. "No, no. I can't take you with me."

"But-"

"I'll be back soon with your friends. I promise." His gaze locked with Rikki's for a minute. It was a moment of choice. She either stormed down there and went anyways or she submitted herself to Quasimodo's wishes. She was about to give a snappy comeback when she caught the sight of the gargoyle's faces. They were painted with concern similar to that of a parent pleading for their child's sake.

"Fine," she sighed, "We'll do this your way."

Quasimodo's face melted in relief, "Thank you," and with that he disappeared over the side of the bell tower.

Rikki ran over and looked down in time to see Phoebus and Quasi arguing. _Over the map,_ she thought.

As the two men's quarrel came to a close an idea dawned on Rikki. Suddenly, she had all the answers she needed. She quickly scanned the layout of the city and made sure she had the road memorized before leaving the side of the tower.

Hugo shot her a look as she walked back to the workshop, "Why d'you have that silly grin on your face?"

Rikki only turned and gave them all a conspiratorial look.

"You're going anyway, aren't you?"

She nodded and pulled Anya to the staircase before they could try and stop them, "Follow me."

(p.o.v.)

The three baffled gargoyles watched the girls go.

"Oh I do hope they make it safely," mumbled Victor.

"I wouldn't worry 'bout them," Hugo lazily waved his hand, "they're gypsies. They know how to sneak around." In reality he was dying on the inside.

"I guess you're right," sighed Laverne as pigeon nestled itself on her head. Her face twisted in annoyance. "Do I look like a nest to you? Go on, shoo!" she startled the bird and it flew off, "Lousy buzzards."

(p.o.v.)

Rikki's memory proved accurate. From the little that she saw in the movie and the aerial view of the city, she managed to get them both to the court of miracles. Of course getting out of the church required a little creativity but eventually they pulled a stunt. If Anya hadn't found that closet full of nun's habits they would have been toast.

She stopped in the middle of the tunnel and turned to Anya, "OK, time to ditch the costumes." The girls quickly slipped off the robes, revealing their gypsy clothes, and tossed them behind the bones of someone long departed.

They kept on along the tunnel for a short while before hearing a ruckus further down.

"What's that?" asked Anya, her eyes wide.

"I'm not sure," Rikki said, "but I have an idea. C'mon, we have to hurry!"

She gripped Anya's arm and took off running blindly in the darkness. The farther she went the clearer the noises were. Singing. Rikki distinctly heard singing. They came upon the entrance just as Clopin placed a noose around both of their necks. She was right, Quasi and Phoebus had been captured by Clopin and his men.

(p.o.v.)

_Flump._ The tarp serving as our ceiling fell for the fifth time that day. Wonderful. So far the Court of Miracles has turned out to be anything but miraculous.

Our troubles started with pitching up our own makeshift tent in an isolated part of the Court. As you can see we still couldn't get it right, even after three days of trying. Or was it four days?

That was our next issue. Clopin had confined us to the Court, claiming that we were still new to Paris and would get caught by Frollo's guards in a heart beat. He also mentioned that he couldn't bear the thought of losing his "little sunflower", much to Cameryn's distaste. It was impossible to tell the time of day from underground, but somehow, seeing Cameryn so annoyed made it all worth while.

Groaning I got up and pulled Cam along with me, "The roof fell. Help me get it up."

"Do it yourself," she snapped.

"Can't," I countered, "I'm too short, remember?"

Cameryn glared at me hard, "Don't start that again!"

"Start what? I was merely stating that the ropes are too high for me because _somebody_ insisted on a higher ceiling."

Before she could answer Marley sped to our spot. It was evident that she'd been running, so whatever she had to say must have been important, "Guys, you need to come quick!"

"What is it? Another fight?" droned Cameryn.

"No," panted Marley hands on knees, "Quasimodo and Phoebus are here and Clopin's leading them to the gallows. RIGHT NOW!"

Cameryn and I glanced at each other for a moment then took off running after Marley.

(p.o.v.)

"NO! Stop it!" They yelled, but it was no use. The instant Anya and Rikki entered the Court they were engulfed in a massive crowd of people. Their cries were swallowed up by the booing and hissing of the gypsies.

_Someone's gotta do something, _Rikki thought, _and fast!_

_(p.o.v.)_

We got to the main part of the Court just as Clopin was announcing who the intruders were to the people.

"...A couple of Frollo's spies. But not just any spies, his captain of the guard and his loyal hunchback," he bellowed. The crowd booed and laughed in response, their calls echoed off the stone walls.

"Keep running," called Cameryn, " we have to stop him." In the short while she had managed to surpass Marley and I and was well ahead of us. We followed as best we could but she was fast. By the time we reached the edge of the throng she had disappeared into it.

"Where is she?" called Marley from my left as we pushed and shoved people out of our way.

"I don't know," I answered, " just focus on stopping Clopin!" My eyes darted back to the gallows in time to see his hands grip the lever. _Oh crap,_everything came down to those few seconds and it looked like we weren't going to make it...

(p.o.v.)

"STOP!" came two simultaneous cries. Clopin arched an eyebrow in annoyance. Great, someone was trying to be a hero. Party-pooper. He shifted his gaze towards the disturbance_. _

"Mmfrldm!" said Phoebus and Quasi from under their gags. Clopin was shocked to see both Esmeralda and Cameryn, the love of his life, run to free the intruders.

"These men aren't spies they're our friends!" cried Esmeralda.

"Well why didn't they say so?" Clopin yelled, taken aback.

"We _did _say so!" snapped Phoebus and Quasimodo.

"Phoebus is the soldier that saved the miller's family from the fire," Esmeralda explained.

"Yeah, and Quasi helped us escape the cathedral. Like we told you!" finished Cameryn.

As soon as he was freed Phoebus walked to the edge of the gallows, "We came to warn you! Frollo's coming, he knows where you're hiding and he's planning to attack at dawn with a thousand men."

(p.o.v.)

Our moment of relief was just that. A moment. When Phoebus was done with his warning the Court of Miracles became the Court of Chaos. Everywhere people started packing up their things and loading the caravans. Boys climbed and untied the colorful clothes from the ceiling that fell in monstrous waves. All the while Marley and I got caught up in the rush.

"MARLEY! KORI! OVER HERE!"

We spun to the right and found Rikki and Anya jogging towards us.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" I asked them.

"We snuck out. Followed the map," said Rikki.

Reunited once again, we got over to Cameryn, Phoebus, Quasi, and Esmeralda.

"Don't thank me," we caught Phoebus shoving Quasimodo towards Esmeralda, "thank Quasi. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have found this place."

"Nor would I," a voice called and half the court gasped. We looked up and saw none other than Frollo standing piously at the entrance. Rows of guards streamed in and rounded up gypsies left and right. Us included. Our group of eight was surrounded by spear wielding goons. Though Clopin did fight off quite a bit of them to try and give Cameryn a chance at escape.

"Wow, he must really have the hots for you," I commented as they bound and dragged him away. Cameryn only rolled her eyes.

"After twenty years of searching the Court of Miracles is mine at last," Frollo crooned viciously. As he came forward his guards split apart, but not before pinning our arms behind our backs.

"My dear Quasimodo," he pat Quasi absently as he walked towards us, " I always knew someday you'd be of use to me."

"What are you talking about," Esmeralda growled. She was flat out murderous.

"Why, he led me right to you my dear."

"You're a liar!" she spat.

He looked over to Phoebus, "Look what else I caught in my net. Captain Phoebus back from the dead. Another...miracle no doubt. I shall remedy that."

"You cloak-wearing coward!" screamed Cameryn.

Frollo turned to us abruptly, shot as an evil grin and yelled, "There'll be a little bonfire in the square tomorrow and you're all invited to attend." Then to us he said, "Then you shall see what becomes of those who cross me. Lock them up!"

At his words his guards dragged us away. They, ahem, escorted us above ground where dozens of wheeled cages were waiting. As we ascended the stairs a blast of cool air hit me, giving me the first wisps of fresh air in days. I gulped thinking that these could be one of the last fresh breaths I take. Period.

(scene change)

We spent the rest of that night trying to find a way out, but one by one we all dropped. First Rikki, next Cameryn, then Marley, then me, and finally Anya. By morning we found ourselves on the floor of a cell, clutching on to each other.

Despite the bright sunlight that shone through the bars at the top of the wall, our spirits were bleak. The hours passed slowly, thought not slow enough, and we tried to keep up a stiff upper lip for each other.

All too soon we heard the clunk-clunk of the guards' shoes against the hard floor. It brought back what Frollo had said all those days before. Gypsies don't do well in stone walls. Again, we were seized and hauled out to those rotten cages. Then rolled out to the square to receive our sentence. But one thing we all noticed even after watching the day age from our prison, not once did we let go.

(scene change)

"The prisoner Esmeralda has been found guilty of the crime of witchcraft," Frollo read from an official looking scroll, "The penalty: death."

A mob of spectators erupted in angry shouts, being held back by a line of guards. The archdeacon strode through the doors of Notre Dame only to be blocked by a couple of crossed spears. We, along with the other captives, watched the scene in horror from our cages.

"The time has come gypsy," Frollo said, " you stand on the brink of the abyss. But still it's not too late. I can save you from the flames of this world...and the next. Choose me, or the fire."

Esmeralda looked utterly disgusted and went on to do one of the best things ever. She spat at Frollo and the glob hit him square in the eye.

"YEAH!" I couldn't help but let out a cheer and neither could my friends.

Frollo glared and turned to the crowd, " The gypsy Esmeralda has refused to recant. This evil witch has put the soul of every citizen in Paris in danger..."

"God, there he goes again on one of his rants. If it means getting away from him then maybe being burned won't be so bad," Marley groaned.

Frollo went on about the crimes and how Paris would be doomed to hell if he didn't burn her right then and there. All the while we kept our eyes on one thing: the tower. Until, that is, something more immediate caught our attention, the fire.

"...For justice, For Paris, and for her own salvation, it is my duty to send this unholy demon back where she belongs." He lowered the torch and set the dry stack of hay alight. We couldn't look away as the flames and smoke went swirling upwards. It made it's way up with surprising speed towards Esmeralda's feet. The closer it got, the more her eyes watered. Her windpipe pleaded for a fresh breeze.

Then it happened. Out of nowhere Quasimodo swung in on a rope, looking like a 13th century spider-man, and landed near the steak. With one clean motion he freed a barely conscious Esmeralda and beat back four guards with a flaming plank. The spectators all oohed and ahhh-ed while the rope returned to his hand.

We smiled as he swung back and climbed up the side of the cathedral. When he reached the top he hoisted Esmeralda up in the air and yelled with everything in him.

"SANCTUARY!" we all cheered in response.

"SANCTUARY!" again, a mass cheer.

"SANCTUARY!" one last yell past through us. It was official. It was now the city of Paris against Frollo.

The next few moments went by in a blur. A giant beam of wood fell from one of the top-most floors of Notre Dame and crushed Frollo's carriage. He ordered his a squad to ram the doors open with the beam and while they were distracted Phoebus knocked out his guard and snatched the keys. Next thing we knew we were free and involved in a battle with the police force. We used whatever we could find, a pitchfork, a plank of wood, a torch, a knife, a discarded spear, anything. People drifted in and out of my sight. I was right next to Rikki one moment, then Clopin, then Phoebus. Even a flock of birds joined in. Laverne, I figured. Nothing else mattered except for our fight.

(p.o.v.)

Cameryn grinned as she knocked out another sentry. She'd finished off at least seven others and was on an adrenaline high. It was as if she were invincible, nothing could touch her!

Then out of the corner of her eye she saw Frollo's henchmen break through the wooden doors of the cathedral.

_Oh, crap _she said to herself.

Looking around her she saw Rikki, Kori, and Marley in the middle of their own tussles. She was the only one who saw Frollo slip into the church as a wall of molten iron poured out of the sides of the it. With one last glance she ran out of the fray and found a side entrance that was completely clear.

She didn't see two other figures followed her into Notre Dame.

(scene change)

"I will NOT tolerate this assault on the house of God!" she could hear the archdeacon yell. She arrived at the base of the tower steps just as Frollo threw him on the ground.

_He's gonna burn in hell for that one, _she thought then climbed up the stairs in time to hear the door produce a sharp click.

"Da...dang it!" she hissed then ran back down to the fallen priest.

"I have to get up to the bell tower. Quasimodo is in danger, where can I get up?" she asked him as she hoisted him to his feet.

"The south tower steps. There's a path that leads up there." he instructed.

"Thank you," she whispered before taking off.

"Be careful, my child!" the archdeacon called after her then murmured, "God be with you."

(scene)

Cameryn made it to the top of the church in time to see Quasimodo fall off the side of the roof and drag Frollo down by the cape. She could only stand there in shock as she saw them dangle. Luckily, Esmeralda reacted and caught Quasi by the wrist. With all her strength she attempted to keep him from slipping. Unfortunately, Frollo wasn't exactly idle.

He swung from side to side to gain distance and momentum. After only a few swings he grasped a gargoyle's neck and began to climb. An incapacitated Esmeralda could only pull and watch in fear as he stood and held his sword up above his head.

"And he shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!" quoted Frollo as he raised his sword over his head.

Cameryn's memory flashed back to each and every other climax they had been through, The Jungle book, where Marley lit the branch on fire. Aladdin, where Anya hacked at Jafar with a machete after he nearly suffocated Aladdin. The Lion King, where both Simba and Rikki almost died. And finally, The Little Mermaid, where Kori pulled prince Eric out of the whirlpool. They all had a simple connection to each other and this story was no exception. The only difference: she had to act sooner than the others did.

Instinctively, she ran forward, jumped onto the railing, and raised her spear just as Frollo swung down to decapitate Esmeralda.

Clank! The weapons made contact and Cameryn pushed her spear forwards with as much strength as she could muster. Frollo leaned backwards in response, losing his balance and toppling over the edge of the statue to his death.

But not before he could grab a handful of Cameryn's skirt.

(p.o.v.)

Finally, we beat the enemy back and I got as close to Rikki as the activity would allow.

"We did it!" I cheered.

"I wouldn't say that," she answered, " I haven't seen Anya or Cameryn since the battle started."

My stomach dropped and I'm pretty sure my face drained of color. Possibilities swirled through my head and the scene started to spin. Anya was still slightly injured, and who knows what happened to Cameryn. Rikki and I combed the mass, searching through the skirmishes that still went on. I looked down and was unpleasantly surprised by blood staining the cobble stone. _No, that's not theirs._ Before I could get sick, or pass out, Rikki yanked on my arm and pointed. I followed her gaze. All I could say was-

"Oh. my. Freaking. God!"

(p.o.v.)

As she felt herself tip over, suddenly, that feeling of invincibility was gone. It was replaced by the cold sensation of fear. Helpless, she reached her hand out and caught a hand-hold on the side of the railing. She held fast, but she felt herself slipping inch by inch. Below her she felt the light skirt slip off her hips, down her legs, and finally off her feet; revealing her her denim capris.(sorry, just had to clarify that.) She could hear Frollo's screams as he plummeted hundreds of feet below.

She heaved a little in relief. Until Quasi, who was being held up next to her, slipped and fell a frightening distance. Cameryn looked down and instantly regretted it. Again, she felt herself moving down slowly, to the point where her fingers were almost to the edge of the carving...

"Gotcha!" Cameryn whipped her head up to see Anya, of all people, gripping her wrist.

"Anya! I've never been so happy to see you-"

"Yeah. Yeah, sure. Whatever. Just climb up already before I slip, too." Anya said, her eyes super-glued shut.

Cameryn did as she was told, using Anya's wrists as support and stepping up the wall. She was ubber thankful the moment she set foot on the roof.

After a few shaky moments on both of their parts they squeezed each other. They were truly proud of the other. Anya, for the guts her friend had to stand at the roof of a giant cathedral and stop a villain. Cameryn, for the guts Anya had to swallow her own fears to save a friends life. Thinking about it now, though, Cameryn wasn't so sure how Anya pulled it off on her own.

"Um, Anya?" she asked

"Yeah?"

"How did you get here so fast on a recovering ankle? Plus you are way too short to reach all the way over the side. How did-"

"MY SUNFLOWER!"

She groaned and turned to the source of the outburst. To the left of Anya stood no other than Clopin,"Oh, I'm so glad you are alright! I would have flung myself from the side of this building had you not made it."

_If I would have known..._she thought.

Anya giggled, "As you can see, I had some help. Clopin held my legs and dangled me over the side to get you."

"I would have climbed the side of the tower myself," he said, "but your friend here thought this might be a better plan." He patted Anya warmly on the head.

"Well," Cameryn considered, " you did save my life. I guess I owe you something." With that she got up on her toes and gave Clopin a peck on the cheek. He turned bright red.

"By the way," she said right afterwards, "either of you mention this to ANYBODY and I will personally fling you over the side of this church."

"Agreed," they both nodded.

Anya looked out at the view,"Ok, can we get down now? I'm feeling light headed."

(P.o.v./ scene change)

We were so relieved to see Cameryn and Anya in one piece, we couldn't stop smiling. After the battle things changed quickly. Esmeralda and Phoebus were both safe, sound, and happy with one another. Quasimodo became the town's newest hero and a whole other festival was thrown in his honor. It was fantastic and Marley got a real kick out it.

We even heard newly formed rumors about a certain gypsy dancer marrying the ex-captain of the guard in a few months. All in all, our experience took a turn for the better, but there was still one last thing for us to take care of.

Once everything started to die down Rikki, Anya, and I approached Quasi, with Cameryn leading the way. He was seated on a wooden 'throne' with a real crown on this time. Esmeralda and Phoebus were talking close by while Clopin was entertaining a group of children with puppets.

"Hey, Quasi!" she greeted him.

"Oh, hi! I was wondering where you girls went. Did you enjoy the festival?" he asked us.

"It was great! We just wanted to ask you something," Cameryn said, "you know that map Esmeralda gave you? The one that shows the way to the Court of Miracles?"

Quasi nodded and Cameryn went on

"Do you think we could have it?"

"Why?" he asked, "You're gypsies, you know where it is already."

We all gave each other the same look. "About that..." between all of us we gave him a run down of our story. By the end, Quasi wasn't the only one listening. We'd gather quite an audience consisting of some towns folk, Phoebus and Esmeralda, two guards, and the group of children Clopin had been entertaining.

"So, we really need the map," she finished.

Quasi barely hesitated, "The-then you'll have it." He got up and placed the band around Cameryn's neck.

"Thanks Quasi," she said as the our M.I. beeped. A point appeared next to Cameryn's name. They beeped once more to signal the start of teleportation when Anya cried out, "Wait! Where's Marley?"

As if on cue we heard a violent commotion and some one yell, "GET BACK HERE!" We whipped our heads in time to see Marley running at us full speed with a something in her hand. "Go!" she yelled, "I got it. Just start the teleportation!"

"What did you do?" I asked slightly worried.

"I got his mask," she smiled and held up Clopin's purple mask.

Cameryn hit her face with her hand as Rikki chuckled, "I can't believe this."

The teleporting restarted and I had just enough time to mouth an apology to Clopin as he advanced towards before we were gone.

_YAYAYAY! I have finished this chapter from hell! (ironic it's about a church). So yeah, review, scold, comment, advise, suggest(please no movies). Tell me what you'd like to see! Whatever as long as you help a writer out by clicking the green button._

_To Barbiegirl: sorry for not much gargoyleness. i couldn't fit them in as much as i would have liked to. but i did give them a little spotlight there.  
_

_So this chapter is a good long one and took me all week to finish. Not to toot my own horn but I consider it one of my better ones! I hope it makes up for last time. So that's all I really gotta say, till next time! CYA! ;-)_


	18. Chapter 17 revised

Hey, all! I know you've already read this but it's gone under editing and it's also been slightly extended. I apologize for the false alarm, but this chapter really needed work. Enough with my chatter, ON WITH THE STORY!

Chapter 17

My head burst through the surface of the cold river and I sucked in as much air as possible. A few seconds later I was met with four other heads doing the same thing.

The teleportation here was a bit different than the others, instead of falling we felt ourselves rising incredibly fast, enough to make my eyes sting. It wasn't until about ¾ of the way through that I noticed the lack of air, and the feeling of rushing water. Looking around I saw a majestic, untouched forest. Pine trees and sycamores towered overhead and seemed to brush the sky. Close by, I could hear the rushing of what sounded like a pretty impressive waterfall. The current of the river swept us forward at a steady rate taking us farther and farther through the forest.

"Ugh, great," I heard Rikki groan, "Soggy clothes, now _that's _the stuff."

"Look on the bright side," giggled Marley, "It'll be refreshing!"

"Cold's more like it..." I muttered, "Don't you think we should be getting outta here? It's freezing!"

"I'm with Kori," said Anya peddling towards shore and the rest of us followed in suit. The currents, unfortunately, were against us. For every foot we managed to swim forward the river would pull us back three. After an eternity of struggling against the river's tenacious grip my muscles felt jelly and my lungs couldn't seem to find enough air. Finally we decided just to cling on to the large roots of a nearby willow.

Once we found our grip we scaled up the roots, some of which were too thick for us to even wrap both arms around. We were silent as we plopped against a flat stump hidden in the willow's curtain of leaves. The five of us panted hard and my muscles were so worn out I felt like I was floating; all the while the sounds of nature played as our background music. That is until it was interrupted by five distinct beeps.

My face twisted in annoyance and I pulled the MILD out of my soaked pocket. Looking at the screen I read aloud:

"Welcome to Pocahontas! Your riddle is:

_In this new uncharted place_

_a hero has a choice to face_

_North meets South and East meets West_

_the item here presents a test._"

"'Presents a test...' What's that supposed to mean?" blurted Marley.

I didn't bother to answer, lost in my mind. Another riddle? Can't they just say it was a tie and that's it?

"You've been unusually quiet," noted Anya to Cameryn, "What's up?"

Cameryn turned her head to look at her but said nothing. We waited expectantly until she sat up and took a breath. "I was thinking."

"And you think I'm distracted," I teased.

Cameryn just shot me a look. "There's a difference between you and me. I was thinking about something that's actually _related._"

"Ouch. That hurt," I said, "So enlighten us."

"I noticed something back in Hunchback. It could be important."

I exchanged glances with the other girls, "What?"

"Well, in all the movies do you remember the different battles or climaxes or whatever? They all had something in common, nothing happened like it was supposed to." she explained.

I thought for a moment and realized, she had a point. Nothing ever did go as planned.

"They were all messed up," said Marley.

"Right, like how Scar knocked Simba to the ground like that," considered Rikiki.

"And how Aladdin was almost knocked out," interjected Anya.

"Exactly, and if you really look at things it's," continued Cameryn, " it's like the chances were changed..."

"...In the villain's favor," I finished, having followed her train of the thought. Cameryn nodded gravely and my mind started to whirl. This whole game, it was made so that Mickey could get a "protector". Supposedly it was one of us, that's what we were 'competing' for... a thought came to me.

"Taking that, what if Mickey knew it was going to happen in the first place? And the whole protector thing...what if we're _already_ doing the job and he's making it seem like a game?" I asked, thinking aloud.

Cam nodded again, "That's what I thought too."

"But if that's what he's wanting us to do, then why make us look for all that crap in the riddles, what's causing the weird changes?" blurted Rikki. "And why even mention a winner?"

Anya shook her head and said, "I don't know. But my clothes are bugging me. Let's find someone."

"Wait up, genius," Cameryn said, reverting to her old self, "who exactly are we gonna find? It's not like we have the slightest clue where we are."

"I believe I can help with that," I heard a voice say. I snapped to attention and looked at my friends only to find the same look on their faces. My eyes scanned around but I came up empty. For a moment my gaze fell on the trunk of the tree. _Nah,_ I said to myself, looked away and called, "Hello? Who said that?"

"Look again, child." I heard it say.

I glanced at the others and shrugged, then looked back at the tree trunk. This time I noticed something different about it. The bark, smooth and pock-marked was twisting, like water in a tub when you take out the stopper. The transformation was a quick one, taking no more than a few seconds, revealing the face of an elderly woman.

"WHOA!" cried Marley and jumped in her skin.

Ignoring our surprised expressions Grandmother Willow continued, "I couldn't help but over hear you girls are in need of help."

"Uh....yes," answered the ever calm Anya, "Do you know where we could find some one?"

"Do I know?" the tree repeated, " of course I do. If I didn't I wouldn't be offering, now would I? Just keep to the left, dears, and follow the stream. You'll find the people you encounter there much more welcoming."

We gawked at the tree for a few seconds more before Anya answered, "Ok...thank you ma'am."

"No trouble at all, child," the Willow answered.

And that's how we found ourselves on the road...once again. But I'm positive that once we left I distinctly heard Grandmother Willow mutter, "Polite, but the strangest people I've ever seen!"

(scene change)

"Well," gulped Marley, "This is awkward."

Awkward was right. At the moment we were standing in front of a crowd of Powhatan villagers, some of which, the warriors, held loaded bows at the ready, aimed at _us_. Not exactly pleasant. Chief Powhatan, looking tall and full of authority, eyed us with skepticism. And we just kept standing there looking like drowned rodents in our still dripping clothes. Finally, the Chief spoke.

"Kekata," he called, "What do you make of them?"

The elder looked us over again before speaking, "These travelers are strange to me, they are indeed an unusual group. One has hair like corn while the other like fire! Yet they do not seem to be a threat. I cannot say what should be done."

Again, the chief took an eternity to consider. Several times he looked from Cameryn to me, from Rikki to Marley, then finally to Anya. I held my breath the entire time.

"Sir," Anya piped up, her head slightly bowed, "if it helps at all...Grandmother Willow sent us here." The chief perked up at the mention of the Willow, "She said we would be able to get help here. All we really need is some shelter...a-and we promise to help around where ever you need it. Please?"

He eyes us over one final time before speaking, "I have decided! We will welcome these travelers and treat them as our own. Come girls, you must be weary after your long journey." As the people dispersed he extended an arm to beckon us forward and our tired legs shifted through the ground as fast as they could.

"Thank you very much," I answered, "you don't know how much we appreciate it."

The chief smiled, his face like worn leather, "It's no trouble for friends of Grandmother Willow." Just then, he waved over a familiar woman. She jogged to us, her feet seemed to travel on air.

"Nakoma," he addressed the girl, "can you please take our visitors to a lodge, get them something to eat. They look hungry."

Nakoma nodded, "Of course. Come on, there's an empty lodge over here."

We said our good byes to chief Powhatan and trudged behind Nakoma. I lagged a little behind everyone else thinking. I could not believe our luck! Ever since we fell into this game I felt as if things were starting to get a little bit easier.

_Heyz! I know you already read this first part of the chapter but I felt it needed a little bit more...and I did some much needed editing. So from here I can definitely get Pocahontas rolling. Got some good stuff planned, stay tuned for more, and of course, please review!_

_Till next time, Cya! -Daydreamer_


	19. Chapter 18

Yo yo yo! Daydreama in the hizz-ouse! (lolz. My sad attempts at being gangsta...) So now that I've mentally scarred you for life, ON WITH THE STORY!

Chapter 18

Our first day at the village had been quite uneventful. After Nakoma led us to an empty lodge we ate a good lunch of corn, fruit, and some meat. When night finally fell, we built ourselves a small fire and hung our sodden clothes near the flames. Now dressed in soft tunics we lounged some, talking before we finally got some rest.

"So," sighed Marley, "About the riddle... any ideas? Cause I got nothing."

I propped myself up on an elbow and looked around our circle, "Well, let's take it line by line. Y'know, the same way we did in Aladdin. The first line was something like ' In this new uncharted place'. That's the setting-"

"Obviously," Cameryn retorted from across the fire, her arms folded behind her head like a pillow, "Why can't Mickey just say 'so-and-so has the item. Go get it, have a nice life.' ?"

I gave her a blunt glare, "You're not helping."

"My apologies, oh brilliant one. Go on, continue."

I took a deep breath. Cameryn was absolutely impossible to understand! Why couldn't she cooperate when we needed her to? Whatever, at the moment her attitude was the last thing I wanted to deal with. Just as I opened my mouth to answer back Anya jumped in, no doubt trying to prevent the clash.

"The second line," she blurted and we all turned our attention to her, " 'a hero has a choice to face', what does it mean by that?"

"Who knows?" shrugged Rikki, "But if the line says a hero then it's got to be Pocahontas. I mean, the freakin' movie is named after her!"

We all nodded, that much we could all agree on.

" So the next part, the 'North meets south and east meets west' ", she went on, "Could that be the English? How they came here and met the Powhatans?"

"No kidding, genius!" Cameryn was full of sarcastic commentary tonight, "The question is, what about them?"

Her remark served to shut us all up for more than a few seconds. It was a valid question. The movie had everything to do with Settlers and Natives, so why even bother mentioning it? Even if that's what it referred to, why toss North and South in there?

"Let's just skip the rest 'till tomorrow. I'm too tired to think," suggested Marley, no one had any objections.

After extinguishing the fire, we filed into our lodge and settled in for the night. From the second I lay my head down, I was lost to the world.

(scene)

The next morning I awoke to an ear-splitting shriek. My eyes snapped open and I whirled around, falling out of my cot with a loud "oof!". The others were sitting up in their cots looking as groggy as I felt.

"Wha? What happened?" I called, still half asleep.

"GET IT OUT OF HERE!" was the only answer. I recognized the voice as Cameryn's.

Before I could even get around to wondering what 'it' was, something jumped from the rafters and onto Cam's cot in a blur; it buried itself in her blanket.

"AAAAIIIIIEEEEE!" she screamed again and jumped away, landing squarely across the lodge.

Whatever the creature was it was fairly big, judging from the moving lump under the blanket. I looked at the other girls. Rikki sat up and only looked at the thing, Anya and Marley were doing the same. It occurred to me that Cameryn was the only one who knew what this thing was.

"Cam, what is it? What did you see?" I asked, but she only shook and pointed over to the moving sheet. I sighed. Apparently there was only one way I'd find out. Rubbing my eyes I stood and walked carefully over to the cot. The room was silent save for the occasional whimper escaping from Cameryn's mouth. It's safe to say that none of us had ever seen her act like this before. Whatever this thing was, it must have been some viciously terrifying animal to have reduced Cameryn to a shivering, whimpering mess.

With that in mind, my imagination started toying with me. Suddenly, the five paces to the other side of the lodge felt like a thousand miles. Could this animal be rabid? Or mad? What if it wasn't an 'animal' at all? What if it was something else entirely, like a gremlin...or the chupacabra? Maybe an insane combination of the two... I moved closer to the side of the bed, until I was only a mere few inches away from the thing. Taking in a gulp of air, I prepared to duck at a moment's notice and gingerly peeled back the covers, revealing...

"Meeko!"

At the sound of the raccoon's name Anya sighed her relief while Rikki laughed at herself, and quite frankly at all of us, for getting so freaked out.

"Wow, Cam," giggled Marley, " all that screaming for a cute little raccoon. Do you also quake at kittens? Squirm when you see a puppy?" We all laughed.

Cameryn didn't find this funny in the slightest. "Oh hardee-har-har!" she scowled, " It's not so funny when you wake up with that thing staring you in the face." She faced the creature, "You enjoyed that, didn't you you little night crawler!"

"Aw, I bet he didn't mean it, didja Meeko?" said Anya walking over and petting his head. The raccoon seemed to smile and leaned into her hand, making a strange, contented purring sound. This however was short lived because something caught Meeko's eye. He perked up and waddled a few inches over to it. When he picked it up we realized he found Cam's M.I.L.D. For a moment he looked it over with quick, jerky movements. Then, before any of us could do anything, he jumped off the cot and onto the one of the wooden rafters.

"HEY! Get back here!" Cameryn yelled. We all jumped up at the same time and grabbed at both the animal and the gadget. No matter how fast we tried to be Meeko was always three steps ahead of us. At one point Rikki tried to climb onto the rafters, but at that exact same instant the raccoon decided to scamper out the front door before she could even get close.

"No!" She cried, "It's getting away!"

"Then we can't loose him, let's go." Marley answered and went after the little rascal. The rest of us followed at full speed.

We must have been some sight to see because all eyes were on us as we ploughed through the village, screaming and yelling after a raccoon. The animal took us left, then right, then in ran in sporadic circles. He weaved around the huts and tents until he ran out of the village. The five of us followed and split up. Marley and Anya took to the right while Rikki and I split to the left. Cameryn tore right after him, determined to get her gadget back.

(perspective)

As the girls were making a mad dash behind the raccoon, chief Powhatan was watching them from just behind the village limits. Even though he had allowed these strangers into his tribe he was still beyond suspicious. Could it be a coincidence that these travellers show up, drenched and supposedly lost, just days after those white devils invade their shores? He doubted it.

If this was a stunt made by the settlers it had been convincing enough. Five young girls, barely old enough to be considered adults, helpless and alone. How could he deny them entrance? What kind of person would he be to throw them out and have them fend for themselves? Of course he's accept them...but he was no fool. He had a duty to his people and their safety. If these girls were acting as informants to those monsters he would know about. He turned to the warrior standing just to his left.

"Take a small group of your quietest men. I want to know where our guests are going," He instructed.

(scene)

Meeko dashed towards the left, trying to avoid the blond menace on his tale. We were starting to get worn out but there was no chance we were giving up. As soon as the critter was within her sight Rikki lunged towards him. But Meeko was quick, and darted right under her. I tried to make a grab for him but that only ended with my head slamming into a tree trunk. The raccoon turned again, this time towards Marley and Anya. However, they both tried to grab him at the exact same time and collided, while Meeko darted away. To add insult to injury, the little sucker was chuckling at us!

"I'll make him into a hat!" Cam yelled and kept running right behind him.

Immediately the little raccoon doubled his pace and we kept at it for who knows how long! Eventually the woods became less dense and it was a whole lot easier to move around. Cameryn bolted forward with the rest of us still in pursuit. I could hear the loud churning of the river nearby and suddenly felt very thirsty. Man, could I have used a quick trip to the river's banks for a drink! I groaned and blocked out the sound. This was not a time to get distracted!

Then, just as I was about to give in and plop to the ground where I ran, Meeko stopped. Looking around I saw we had reached the edge of a tall waterfall and that Meeko was trapped. He had nowhere to run.

Before I could even register Cameryn pounced and grabbed the gadget out of the animal's paw.

"Gotcha!" she cried victoriously, spun to face us, and held up her M.I.L.D. Turning she addressed Meeko, "Haha! What are you gonna do now you little-" She froze mid-sentence and stared at the spot that he should have been. Meeko was gone.

"Hmph," she smirked, "guess he couldn't stand to loose."

At that moment I heard a gun being cocked and felt something hard and cold pressed to my back. My hands started to tremble and I looked wide eyed at my friends. They stared back just as scared.

"Guess again," I heard a gruff, accented voice say, "Come peacefully, or your li'le friend here gets a belly full o' lead!"

_dun dun DUN! Cliffhanger! Sorry its been over a month, but I got something done! And an actual plot line for this movie! YAY! I'll update soon this time, I swear! And you'll actually see some main characters in the next chapter! Stay tuned and thanks again for reading! CYA! _

_-Daydreamer_


	20. Notice

Author's Notice

I regret to inform those of you who have taken an interest in my story that I'm canceling it. Nah, just kidding! But I am giving it a face lift. I originally planned on doing a mass edit at the end, but it works out best if I just go back and do it now. I've been planning things as I go and that was NOT the right thing to do. This is what happens when you don't pre-write. But! I'm updating the chapters I've already posted, some minor, some major, and there will be a key plot detail that i'll be nudging in there to help the growth of the rest of the story, so be on the look out for that. That being said, Pocahontas will be a little slow in finishing, but trust me, it'll all work out and I'm not abandoning it. I'll even post a preview of the chapter if you'd like. Sorry, for the inconvenience, I just felt that I should explain why it's taking so long to move forward. I hope you like the story so far, and thank you for reading! Cya!

-Daydreamer.


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